Novel pyrenylbenzylidene-malononitrile derivative mixed with cellulose acetate electrospun nanofibrous sheets for hydrazine detection

Abstract

A new pyrenylbenzylidene–malononitrile (P2) was successfully synthesized via the Suzuki coupling reaction and Knoevenagel condensation using nano Cu as a catalyst. The compound P2 could detect hydrazine in 10% THF–PBS, pH 7.4, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 19.46 nM. Moreover, the P2–CA nanofibrous sheets were fabricated by combining compound P2 and cellulose acetate. The LOD of P2–CA nanofibrous sheets was found to be 0.02% w/v for hydrazine detection. The quantity of hydrazine vapor was recognized and quantified by analyzing fluorescence images acquired with a smartphone camera and a portable blacklight lamp that generates light with a wavelength of 365 nm using the ImageJ application. The concentration range of 0.025–1% w/v was accurately determined by employing ImageJ for fluorescence image analysis. Both compound P2 and P2–CA nanofibrous sheets are selective for hydrazine. Also, the mechanism of compound P2 and hydrazine was studied via¹H NMR titration, FT-IR experiments and DFT calculations. In addition, the P2–CA nanofibrous sheet has the ability to detect hydrazine vapor in actual samples collected from the environment. Hence, the compound P2 and P2–CA nanofibrous sheets have significant promise as highly effective sensors for detecting hydrazine in water across many environments and industries.