Disclosed herein are compositions of tricarbazole triazolophane (tricarb) of Formulas (I), (II) and (III): wherein R of Formula (I) is selected from a group consisting of alkyl (for example, C6-C18), alkyl-substituted phenyl derivatives, and substituted glycol derivatives, among others, or a combination thereof, and R, R′ and R″ of Formulas (II) and (III) are independently selected from a group consisting of alkyl (for example, C6 to C18), alkyl-substituted phenyl derivatives, and substituted glycol derivatives, or a combination thereof. The disclosure presents examples of thin films composed of the same as well as methods of binding anions from the same.