Three-in-one is really better: Exploring the sensing and adsorption properties in a newly designed metal-organic system incorporating a copper(II) ion

A 2-D copper(ii)-based coordination polymer, [Cu(SCN)(hmp)]_n CP (1), was crystallized via the slow evaporation method after the reaction of CuSO₄·5H₂O, 2-pyridinemethanol (hmpH), sodium thiocyanate and sodium hydroxide in water for functional applications. CP (1) was characterized via elemental analysis, FTIR, PXRD, magnetic, EPR, crystallographic and TGA studies. The crystal structure and EPR data confirmed a square pyramidal geometry around the Cu(ii) ions. The topological analysis revealed that CP 1 has a {6^{^}3} point symbol with a [6.6.6] extended point symbol and 3-c net, uninodal net having hcb and Shubnikov hexagonal plane net/(6,3) type of uncommon topology. The magnetic studies suggested the strong antiferromagnetic nature of CP (1). The fluorescence sensing property of CP (1) was investigated with different nitro aromatic compounds and hazardous metal ions. CP (1) demonstrated high selectivity and sensitivity towards nitrobenzene, even in the presence of other competitive nitro aromatics. In addition, CP (1) showed excellent selectivity and sensitivity toward Fe³⁺ over other metal ions. The possible detection mechanisms were proposed employing UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy and DFT calculations. CP (1) also showed excellent recyclability towards both analytes, and its initial intensity was almost regained after several washings. Moreover, CP (1) acted as an excellent adsorbent material for natural dyes with different charges and sizes, i.e., methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and Rhodamine-B. Furthermore, CP (1) was utilized repeatedly for the effective adsorption of MB from wastewater without significant loss in its adsorption capacity. Hence, the present CP (1) was designed to relate coordination chemistry with various functional applications of interest.