Quinolylhydrazide based organogelator as adsorbent for organic dyes and chemosensor for Pb2+

Abstract

A novel quinolylhydrazide based organogelator G1 was synthesized and studied. G1 forms stable organogels in methanol and ethanol, with critical gel concentration (cgc) as low as 5.9 mg·mL⁻¹ and 4.9 mg·mL⁻¹, respectively. It was shown that the van der Waals forces, π-π interactions, and hydrogen bonds were the main driving forces in the gelling process. Specifically, the G1-methanol gels could be used as a highly effective adsorbent for organic dye removal, such as, brilliant green (BG), rhodamine B (RB), bromocresol purple (BCP), malachite green (MG), crystal violet (CV), and bromocresol green (BCG), the adsorption capacity of G1-methanol gel for CV reached 14.91 mg·g⁻¹. Furthermore, G1 could be act as chemosensor for detecting Pb²⁺ with high sensitivity and selectivity. The detection limit for Pb²⁺ was 9.3006 × 10⁻⁶ M, which might be attributed to the Pb²⁺-G1 complex that formed between Pb²⁺ and the hydrazide moieties of G1.