{"title":"Confinement-Assisted Specific Fluorescence Detection of Fe3+ in Aqueous Solution by Styrylpyrene-Based Microgels","authors":"Wei Huang, Ruijie Hou, Zehui Jiao, Jiefeng Zhu, Xianjing Zhou* and Xinping Wang*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0304410.1021/acsapm.4c03044","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p >In recent years, fluorescent sensors have played a compelling role in the precise detection of metal ions. However, most fluorophores are hydrophobic and cannot be used to detect aqueous samples directly. Researchers have thus addressed this problem by combining fluorophores with hydrophilic polymer carriers. Nevertheless, most studies have focused only on the role of fluorophores in the recognition of metal ions, ignoring the effect of polymers and their aggregation states on the detection. In this work, microgels with pyrene-based fluorescent cross-linked structures were prepared using a post-cross-linking strategy and were found to specifically detect Fe<sup>3+</sup> directly in aqueous solutions without interference from other metal ions (i.e., Al<sup>3+</sup>, Ba<sup>2+</sup>, Cd<sup>2+</sup>, Co<sup>2+</sup>, Cr<sup>3+</sup>, Cu<sup>2+</sup>, Ni<sup>2+</sup>, Pb<sup>2+</sup>, Zn<sup>2+</sup>, Fe<sup>2+</sup>, Hg<sup>2+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup>, K<sup>+</sup>, Ca<sup>2+</sup>, or Mg<sup>2+</sup>). The detection limit is 2.3 μM, which is lower than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit for drinking water. The fluorescence quenching of microgels by Fe<sup>3+</sup> was effective by both mechanisms (dynamic and static), mainly the static one. Nanoscale microgels allow Fe<sup>3+</sup> to be confined around the pyrene of their fluorescent cross-linked structures, which induces nonradiative energy transfer and leads to fluorescence quenching of the microgels. Such a detection method utilizing the confinement effect of microgels to synergize fluorescence quenching provides an idea for the development of fluorescent sensors.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":"6 23","pages":"14843–14852 14843–14852"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsapm.4c03044","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In recent years, fluorescent sensors have played a compelling role in the precise detection of metal ions. However, most fluorophores are hydrophobic and cannot be used to detect aqueous samples directly. Researchers have thus addressed this problem by combining fluorophores with hydrophilic polymer carriers. Nevertheless, most studies have focused only on the role of fluorophores in the recognition of metal ions, ignoring the effect of polymers and their aggregation states on the detection. In this work, microgels with pyrene-based fluorescent cross-linked structures were prepared using a post-cross-linking strategy and were found to specifically detect Fe3+ directly in aqueous solutions without interference from other metal ions (i.e., Al3+, Ba2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Hg2+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, or Mg2+). The detection limit is 2.3 μM, which is lower than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit for drinking water. The fluorescence quenching of microgels by Fe3+ was effective by both mechanisms (dynamic and static), mainly the static one. Nanoscale microgels allow Fe3+ to be confined around the pyrene of their fluorescent cross-linked structures, which induces nonradiative energy transfer and leads to fluorescence quenching of the microgels. Such a detection method utilizing the confinement effect of microgels to synergize fluorescence quenching provides an idea for the development of fluorescent sensors.
期刊介绍:
ACS Applied Polymer Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology relevant to applications of polymers.
The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrates fundamental knowledge in the areas of materials, engineering, physics, bioscience, polymer science and chemistry into important polymer applications. The journal is specifically interested in work that addresses relationships among structure, processing, morphology, chemistry, properties, and function as well as work that provide insights into mechanisms critical to the performance of the polymer for applications.