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

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

117 Citations (Scopus)

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 Al 3+, 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+.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19296-19302
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry
Volume22
Issue number36
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Sept 2012

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