Abstract
An aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ)-active polymer (PF), an aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active polymer (PFTPE) and an aggregation-enhanced emission (AEE)-active polymer (PTTPE) were synthesized by tetraphenylethane (TPE), fluorene and thiophene moieties. Polyurethane (PU) foams modified by PF, PFTPE and PTTPE, namely PU-PF, PU-PFTPE and PU-PTTPE, using ultrasonication-assisted method have been prepared. A comparative study of PU-PF, PU-PFTPE and PU-PTTPE for detection explosives had been performed, and significant fluorescence quenching was observed with the introduction of PA solutions. The as-prepared PU-PF, PU-PFTPE and PU-PTTPE sensors exhibited a superior sensitivity for PA solutions with different concentrations. Remarkably, PU-PF gave a quenching efficiency of 96.2%, higher than 93.5% for PU-PFTPE and 86.7% for PU-PTTPE at a PA concentration of 180 µg·mL−1 in methanol, which was attributed to the effective energy transfer from the fluorophore (PF) to the nitro explosive (PA). This suggested that some ACQ polymers, applied to detect explosives, could afford better performances than AIE or AEE polymers through modification of structures and selection of adequate carriers. At the same time, these chemical sensors can be recycled many times.
Highlights
Significant efforts have been employed to the exploration for detecting explosives [1,2,3,4,5]
We have reported that an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) polymer was loaded on ultrasonication approach to detect explosives and showed high sensitivity to the Picric acid (PA) solution and DNT
Ultrasonication-assisted manufacture is a common method in scientific research, which has been used in many fields such as crushing, rinsing, emulsification and activation of particles [37,38,39], due to providing a strong interaction between energy and matter
Summary
Significant efforts have been employed to the exploration for detecting explosives [1,2,3,4,5]. Numerous TPE-based polymers, spread in (AIE) resulted from the propeller-shaped structure. Since it can be prepared, large amounts of good-poor pair solvents or spun coating films as probes for explosive analysis, have been widely. That fluorescent polymers with ACQ property for detecting explosives have tobetter the detection results It seems that AIE or AEE materials could afford suffer from the effect to cripple the detection results [29,30]. We have reported that an AIE polymer was loaded on ultrasonication approach to detect explosives and showed high sensitivity to the PA solution and DNT.
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