SDC/OS-LDH composite for highly sensitive fluorescence detection of Fe at a much lower concentration.

In this work, we demonstrate the tunable luminescence of newly synthesized SDC/OS Mg/Al-LDH composites (SDC is 4,4'-stilbenedicarboxylic acid; OS is 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium; LDH is layered double hydroxide) and their application in fluorescence sensing to detect Fe(iii) ions. Through an ion-exchange method, the SDC and OS anions with changed molar ratios are intercalated into the LDH interlayers to obtain composites of SDCOS-LDH (x = 0.02, 0.05, and 0.10). In the solid state, the optimized SDCOS-LDH exhibits a blue emission (441 nm) with a 54 nm blue-shift compared with SDC-Na solid salt (495 nm). In a delaminated state, the colloidal suspension of SDCOS-LDH in formamide (FM) also gives a blue emission at 444 nm in comparison to the 451/468 nm emissions of the FM solution of free SDC anions, and the luminescence intensity of the exfoliated composite is ∼28 times higher than that of the SDC anions. The SDCOS-LDH composite could be utilized in chemical fluorescence sensing for detecting Fe ions. In aqueous solutions with extremely low Fe concentrations of 0.18-1.78 μM (0.01-0.1 ppm), the composite gives a large quenching constant of 2.34 × 10 M, and an ultralow detection limit of 6.12 × 10 M. This work may provide a highly effective while simple method for the detection of Fe in a small concentration range.