Tian Yuchuan, Kelarakis Antonios, Li Li, Zhao Fang, Wang Yunwei, Wang Weihua, Yang Qingsong, Ye Zhishuang, Guo Xuhong
State-Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
School of Physical Sciences and Computing, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom.
Front Chem. 2018 Oct 9;6:470. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2018.00470. eCollection 2018.
Heavy metal detection has become very important for the protection of water resource. In this work, a novel controllable probe is presented for the sensitive detection of Pb in aqueous solutions. The probe was synthesized via the immobilization of surface functionalized carbon dots (named as CAEA-Hs) into the shell of the spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB). The fluorescence of CAEA-H was firstly "turned off" via electrostatic interaction induced quenching. Based on the aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE), the fluorescence of the immobilized CAEA-H could be specifically turned on via the aggregation of the SPB particles. This fluorescence "turn on" sensor could selectively detect Pb among five different metal ions with a relatively wide detecting range (0-1.67 mM) and good linear relationship ( = 0.9958). Moreover, the aggregating behavior and nano-structure of CAEA-H loaded SPB have been systematically analyzed via small angle X-ray scattering, turbidity titration, and Zeta-potential measurement. Based on a series of control experiments, we finally gain an insight into the sensing mechanism of this novel sensing probe. This contributed a proof of concept demonstration that sensitive and selective chemical detection can be achieved via a C-dot/SPB synergistic platform.
重金属检测对于水资源保护已变得非常重要。在这项工作中，提出了一种新型可控探针，用于灵敏检测水溶液中的铅。该探针是通过将表面功能化的碳点（命名为CAEA-Hs）固定到球形聚电解质刷（SPB）的壳层中合成的。CAEA-H的荧光首先通过静电相互作用诱导猝灭而“关闭”。基于聚集诱导发光增强（AIEE），固定化的CAEA-H的荧光可通过SPB颗粒的聚集而特异性地“开启”。这种荧光“开启”传感器能够在五种不同金属离子中选择性检测铅，具有相对较宽的检测范围（0 - 1.67 mM）和良好的线性关系（ = 0.9958）。此外，通过小角X射线散射、浊度滴定和Zeta电位测量，系统地分析了负载CAEA-H的SPB的聚集行为和纳米结构。基于一系列对照实验，我们最终深入了解了这种新型传感探针的传感机制。这为通过碳点/SPB协同平台实现灵敏且选择性的化学检测提供了概念验证。
