Abstract
We report a simple and versatile approach to assemble sensitive and selective fluorescence “turn-on” sensors for cyanide by combining three off-the-shelf materials; namely fluorescent dye, 1-vinyl imidazole polymer, and cupric chloride. The cyanide-sensing species is a non-fluorescent fluorophore-polymer-Cu2+ complex; which forms as a result of the imidazole polymer’s ability to bind both fluorophore and fluorescence quencher (Cu2+). Cyanide removes Cu2+ from these complexes; thereby “turning-on” sensor fluorescence. These sensors are water-soluble and have a detection limit of ~2.5 μM (CN-) in water. Our ternary complex-based sensing approach also enables facile emission tuning; we demonstrate the convenient, synthesis-free preparation of blue and green-emitting sensors using distyrylbiphenyl and fluorescein fluorophores, respectively. Furthermore; these ternary complexes are easily immobilized using agarose to create cyanide-sensing hydrogels; which are then used in a simple; novel microdiffusion apparatus to achieve interference-free cyanide analysis of aqueous media. The present study provides an inexpensive approach for portable; interference-free cyanide detection.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 4488 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-15 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Sensors (Switzerland) |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 16 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2 2020 |
Keywords
- Agarose
- Complex
- Cyanide
- Fluorescence
- Hydrogel
- Microdiffusion
- Non-covalent
- Off-on
- Sensor
- Turn-on