White-light emitting boronate microparticles for potential use as reusable bright chemosensors in water†
Abstract
The facile surface functionalization of surfactant-free organic microparticles composed of polymeric 2,4,8,10-tetraoxa-3,9-diboraspiro[5.5]undecane allowed us to develop white-light emissive chemosensors for the real-time visual detection of Cu2+ in HEPES buffer (pH 7.0) due to a synergistic response of fluorophores grafted onto the particles. A detection limit of 15.4 ppb for Cu2+ in aqueous media and excellent recyclability were also observed.
- This article is part of the themed collection: J400: Celebrating the 400th year of Japan-UK relations