LUMINESCENT 2D COORDINATION NETWORKS (CNS): STRUCTURAL AND EXFOLIATION STUDIES

After the discovery of graphene in 2004, the scientific community has increasingly focused on the investigation of two-dimensional (2D) materials, with the objective of integrating them into new technologies and devices while minimizing their environmental impact. Within the field of materials science, coordination polymers (CPs), crystalline, porous materials composed of metal ions or clusters bridged by organic ligands, have garnered significant attention. This is largely due to their structural versatility, tunable properties, and a wide range of applications, including gas adsorption and separation, sensing, drug delivery, and more. Among the most intriguing characteristics of CPs is their luminescence, which arises from various electronic transitions such as intraligand, metal-centered, guest-centered, metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT), and ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT). The designability of CPs enables the synthesis of novel 2D luminescent coordination polymers (LCPs) with superior photophysical properties compared to their conventional counterparts. In recent years, the design and synthesis of new 2D materials have emerged as a distinct subfield of the solid-state chemistry, aiming to develop and isolate layered networks with unique functionalities suitable for next-generation technologies. This research project focused on the synthesis and comprehensive characterization of novel 2D luminescent coordination polymers (LCPs), achieved by employing newly developed emissive organic linkers in combination with closed-shell transition metals such as Ag(I), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Cu(I). A significant part of the work was also devoted to the exfoliation of both the newly synthesized LCPs and selected known compounds with specific properties, in order to obtain metal-organic nanosheets (MONs). The structural, photophysical, and functional properties of these nanostructured materials were extensively studied, with particular attention on their potential applications in chemical sensing, exploiting their remarkable luminescent behavior.