A highly sensitive, single selective, real-time and “turn-on” fluorescent sensor for Al3+ detection in aqueous media

Xiaoyan Shi; Huan Wang; Tianyu Han; Xiao Feng; Bin Tong; Jianbing Shi; Junge Zhi; Yuping Dong

doi:10.1039/C2JM33393G

A highly sensitive, single selective, real-time and “turn-on” fluorescent sensor for Al³⁺ detection in aqueous media†

Xiaoyan Shi,^a Huan Wang,^a Tianyu Han,^a Xiao Feng,^a Bin Tong,*^a Jianbing Shi,^a Junge Zhi^b and Yuping Dong*^a

* Corresponding authors

^a College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing, China
E-mail: tongbin@bit.edu.cn, chdongyp@bit.edu.cn
Fax: +86 10-68948982

^b College of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing, China

Abstract

A “turn-on” fluorescent sensor, sodium 4,4′,4′′-(1H-pyrrole-1,2,5-triyl)tri-benzoate (Py(PhCOO-Na)₃), has been prepared for the detection of Al³⁺ in aqueous solution. The detection mechanism, as well the mechanism specific to Al³⁺, was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement. Py(PhCOONa)₃ exhibited an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic and was found to show a specific affinity to Al³⁺, as indicated by the enhanced and bathochromically shifted emission of the AIE fluorogen. Upon binding Al³⁺, a significant fluorescence enhancement with a turn-on ratio of over 10-fold was triggered by the AIE process. Moreover, this sensor is highly selective for Al³⁺ over other metal ions with a detection limit of 5 μM and a quantitative detection range of 5–120 μM, and is able to be used in the determination of Al³⁺ in drinking water. The time-response investigation indicates that the emission intensity of (Py(PhCOO⁻)₃) can be quickly boosted to reach the maximum intensity in less than 10 s upon titration of Al³⁺.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C2JM33393G
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 27 May 2012
Accepted: 27 Jul 2012
First published: 14 Aug 2012

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J. Mater. Chem., 2012,22, 19296-19302

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A highly sensitive, single selective, real-time and “turn-on” fluorescent sensor for Al³⁺ detection in aqueous media

X. Shi, H. Wang, T. Han, X. Feng, B. Tong, J. Shi, J. Zhi and Y. Dong, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 19296 DOI: 10.1039/C2JM33393G

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Journal of Materials Chemistry