Abstract
The development of a novel all-solid-state optical sensor array based on heteroatomic macrocyclic fluorophores (diaza-crown ether, metallocorrole and pyridinophans) for the photographic analysis of liquid media, is presented. The sensitivity of the new optical system toward a number of different species (cations: Li+, K+, Na+, , Mg2+, Ca2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+ and anions: , , Cl−, Br−, ) was evaluated both in single selective sensor mode and in multisensory arrangement. The satisfactory PLS1 regression models between sensor array optical response and analyte concentration were obtained for Cd2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and ions in all the range of tested concentrations. Among these species the highest attention was focused onto detection of cadmium and nitrite ions, for which the detection limits, DL, estimated by 3σ method were found 0.0013 mg/L and 0.21 mg/L respectively, and these values are lower than the corresponding WHO guideline values of 0.003 mg/L (Cd2+) and 2 mg/L (). The suitability of the developed sensors implemented with familiar devices for signal acquisition (Light Emitting Diode, LED, as light source and a digital camera as a signal detector), and chemometric methods for data treatment to perform fast and low-cost monitoring of species under interest, in real samples of environmental importance, is demonstrated.
Highlights
The use of optical techniques and optical chemical sensors for a satisfactory solution of a wide range of analytical tasks is becoming nowadays more and more popular (Askim et al, 2013; Lu, 2014; Bonifazi and Serranti, 2016; Di Natale et al, 2016)
The main criteria for the chemosensors selection were as following: (i) the presence in their structure of a macrocyclic chelating site which is linked to an the optically active fluorogenic fragment modulating the fluorescence emission upon the analyte binding; (ii) strong absorption around 350–450 nm in the near-UV region and high luminescence in the visible diapason; (iii) cross-sensitive properties, i.e., a strong binding ability toward several analytes; (iv) the availability in commerce or simple synthetic procedures required for their synthesis
In non-complexed DCHQ-Ph, hydroxyquinoline signaling unit is poorly luminescent due to an intermolecular photoinduced proton transfer (PPT) process between the hydroxyl group and the quinoline nitrogen, while a significant fluorescence enhancement is observed in the DCHQ-Ph-Mg2+ complex where both groups are involved in metal coordination and PPT is inhibited
Summary
The use of optical techniques and optical chemical sensors for a satisfactory solution of a wide range of analytical tasks is becoming nowadays more and more popular (Askim et al, 2013; Lu, 2014; Bonifazi and Serranti, 2016; Di Natale et al, 2016). Inspired by the previous works, in this study we have extended our research to the development of portable analytical system based on a fluorescent sensor array which employs familiar devices for signal acquisition (Light Emitting Diode, LED, as light source and a digital web-camera as a signal detector), in combination with chemometric methods for data treatment for fast and low-cost detection of polluting species in real samples.
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