Three isostructural Ln-BTB frameworks (Ln = Eu (1), Dy (2), Yb (3)) were synthesized and structurally characterized, in which mononuclear and trinuclear [Ln3] units as nodes construct unprecedented (3,4,10)-connected 3D frameworks with (4·6·8)4(4·8(2))2(4·8(5))(6(2)·8(4))(4(5)·6(8)·8(26)·10(6)) point symbol. The luminescent investigations revealed that compound 1 can sensitively and selectively detect Al(3+), but comparably compound 2 could not detect Al(3+) among various cations. More importantly, 1 as an Al(3+) sensor can be reused at least five times, which represents the first recyclable metal organic framework (MOF)-supported Al(3+) sensor. Additionally, magnetic investigations on 2 also were carried out, showing a single-molecule-magnet behavior.

A novel 3D metal−organic framework (MOF)-{[Tb 3 (CBA) 2 (HCOO)(μ 3 -OH) 4 (H 2 O)]•2H 2 O•0.5DMF} n (S-1) was synthesized by the solvothermal method. The crystal structure indicates that [Tb 4 O 4 ] cubane clusters selfassemble into an infinite chain by sharing vertex, which is further linked to adjacent chains through 1,1-cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid ligand (H 2 CBA), resulting in a honeycomb arrayed framework. S-1 possesses excellent water stability and still retains intact structure after exposure to water for 10 weeks or boiling water for 10 weeks. Interestingly, S-1 acts as a luminescence sensor to selectively and sensitively detect quercetin with the limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.23 ppm (7.6 × 10 −7 M). The relationship between relative luminescence intensity and concentration obeys linear in the range of 0−300 ppm (0−993 μM), which allows quantitative detection of quercetin. Importantly, S-1 can be reused at least six times with almost no change in luminescent intensity. Compared with the high performance liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (HPLC−MS) method, S-1 was used to determine the content of quercetin in onionskin and apple peel samples with satisfactory results. Furthermore, a portable S-1 test paper is also developed and expected to be applied in practice. To our knowledge, S-1 is the first example of MOFs as luminescent sensor for quercetin.

Hardware-accelerated direct volume rendering of unstructured volumetric meshes is often based on tetrahedral cell projection, in particular, the Projected Tetrahedra (PT) algorithm and its variants. Unfortunately, even implementations of the most advanced variants of the PT algorithm are very prone to rendering artifacts.In this work, we identify linear interpolation in screen coordinates as a cause for significant rendering artifacts and implement the correct perspective interpolation for the PT algorithm with programmable graphics hardware. We also demonstrate how to use features of modern graphics hardware to improve the accuracy of the coloring of individual tetrahedra and the compositing of the resulting colors, in particular, by employing a logarithmic scale for the pre-integrated color lookup table, using textures with high color resolution, rendering to floating-point color buffers, and alpha dithering. Combined with a correct visibility ordering, these techniques result in the first implementation of the PT algorithm without objectionable rendering artifacts. Apart from the important improvement in rendering quality, our approach also provides a test bed for different implementations of the PT algorithm that allows us to study the particular rendering artifacts introduced by these variants.

Two unique 2D Zn-MOFs with the formulas {[ZnIJbtz)] n } (1) and {[Zn 2 (ttz)H 2 O] n } (2) were synthesized using in situ generated ligands under hydro(solvo)thermal conditions. Both 1 and 2 exhibit high thermo-stability, solvent-stability and pH-stability. Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) reveal that 1 and 2 remain intact until about 365 °C and 332 °C, respectively. The samples of 1 and 2 were immersed in twelve common solvents for 24 hours, and the obtained PXRD patterns remain well consistent with the simulated ones. They were immersed in a series of solutions with pH values ranging from 1.0 to 14.0 for five hours, and the PXRD patterns of these samples remain unchanged spanning the pH range of 1-13. The luminescence investigations reveal that the compounds 1 and 2 can efficiently and selectively detect Cr 2 O 7 2− or CrO 4 2− among twenty-one anions. Importantly, they can be regenerated by a fast and simple method in detecting Cr 2 O 7 2− or CrO 4 2− .