Herein, a novel ratiometric sensor for fluorimetric and smartphone-assisted visual detection of Al3+ in environmental water was developed based on target-regulated the formation of Eu metal-organic frameworks (Eu MOFs). By employing 2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperazin-1-yl] ethanesulfonic acid (Hepes), Eu3+ and tetracycline (TC) as raw materials, Eu MOFs with red emission were facilely synthesized through the coordination of Eu3+ with Hepes and TC. However, upon the introduction of Al3+, higher affinity of TC towards Al3+ resulted in the formation of TC-Al3+ complex with green fluorescence, and inhibited the generation of Eu MOFs. This led to an increase in green fluorescence and a decrease in red fluorescence accompanied by the fluorescence color of the solution changed from red to green under the illumination of UV lamp. Thus, a ratiometric sensor for fluorimetric and the smartphone-assisted visual detection of Al3+ was established. The ratiometric sensor exhibited high sensitivity for Al3+ detection with the detection limit of 0.14 µM for fluorescence detection and 1.21 µM for visual detection. Additionally, the proposed strategy was successfully applied to detect Al3+ in environmental water samples with satisfying results, indicating great application prospect in environmental monitoring.

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