A Pitaya-Inspired Modular Cylindrical MOF-Based Capsule Design for Pesticide Signal Probes

Excessive use of pesticides has brought about serious environmental risks worldwide that pose significant harm for human health. Herein, a series of metal–organic framework (MOF)-based gel capsules with a pitaya-like core–shell structure are constructed through a green polymerization strategy for pesticide detection and removal, namely ZIF-8/M-dbia/SA (M = Zn, Cd). Significantly, the ZIF-8/Zn-dbia/SA capsule exhibits sensitive detection of alachlor, a representative pre-emergence acetanilide pesticide, with a satisfactory detection limit of 0.23 μM. In addition, the MOF-based gel capsules can be extended to a universal visual platform for the noninvasive detection of pesticide residues with various MOFs, such as Eu-MOF, Tb-MOF, and Cu-MOF, and participating dye. Similar to pitaya, the ordered porous structure of MOF in ZIF-8/Zn-dbia/SA capsules offers cavity and open sites for removing pesticide from water with the maximum adsorption amount qmax of 61.1 mg·g–1 toward alachlor in a Langmuir model. Thereby, this work presents the universality of gel capsule self-assembly technologies, including the well-preserved visible fluorescence area and porosity of the different structurally diverse MOFs, offering an ideal strategy for water decontamination and food safety control fields.