A tripodal stimuli responsive self-assembly system and its application for detecting of organic amines, acids and Cu2+ ions aqueous solution

Abstract

A novel fluorescent tripodal low-molecular weight gelator (LMWG) with the triaminoguanidinium cation unit as the center and triphenylamine groups modifying was designed and synthesized. The unique gelators (X) formed microfibers with different size and distribution characteristics in different solvents, which was closely crucial to the stability of gels. The self-assembly structures were performed characterization analyses by scanning electron microscope (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), rheology, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). It was found that the most stable gel XMG was formed in DMSO-CH3OH (1:9, v/v), which had the gelation-induced fluorescence enhancement characteristic and the fibers with small and thick structure features, uniform dispersion as well as high distribution density. In addition, XMG can be used as a multi-stimulus response fluorescent gel material to make special responses to copper ions, TEA and TFA directly and indirectly. The lowest limit of quantitation (LOQ) for TEA and TFA as well as the minimum limit of detection (LOD) for Cu2+ were in the range of 8.24 × 10−10, 9.75 × 10−10 and 5.39 × 10−10 M respectively. The gelator possesses the potential of application in the field of detection chemical, environmental and biological samples.