Facile synthesis of silicon nanoparticles chelated lanthanide(III)-based electrospun nanofiber membranes for rapid on-site visual detection of tetracycline

Abstract

Tetracycline (TC) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and its residues in the environment and food are harmful to human health. Therefore, it is essential to rapidly, sensitively, and conveniently detect TC. In this work, we developed a portable silicon nanoparticles chelated Europium(III)-based polyacrylonitrile (Eu-SiNPs/PAN) nanofiber membrane for rapid, sensitive, and convenient detection of TC. The Eu-SiNPs were synthesized with a facile one-pot method. The Eu-SiNPs/PAN nanofiber membrane was fabricated by electrospinning, combining Eu-SiNPs and PAN with three-dimensional porous membrane structures and UV resistance. Both the Eu-SiNPs and the Eu-SiNPs/PAN nanofiber membranes have good selectivity and anti-interference ability towards TC. The combined merits of rapid response, long storage life, easy portability, and naked-eye recognition of TC make the Eu-SiNPs/PAN nanofiber membrane a promising material for convenient TC detection applications. The practicability of these nanofiber membranes was further verified by detecting TC in real samples, such as lake water, drinking water and honey, and achieved quantitative detection.