Abstract
The design, development, and evaluation of an optical fibre sensor for the detection of Hg2+ in aqueous media are discussed in detail in this paper. A novel fluorescent polymeric material for Hg2+ detection, based on a coumarin derivative (acting as the fluorophore) and an azathia crown ether moiety (acting as the mercury ion receptor), has been synthesized. The fluorophore was covalently immobilized onto the fibre surface by polymerisation using the ion imprinting technique and exhibited a significant increase in fluorescence intensity in response to Hg2+ via a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The sensor provided a response over a concentration range of 0–28 µM with an acceptable response rate of around 11 min and a recovery rate of around 30 min in a Tris-EDTA buffer solution. A detection limit of 0.15 µM was obtained with a possibility of improvement by changing the thickness of the polymer layer and using a more sensitive detector. High-quality performance is seen through a high selectivity for Hg2+ over other metal ions, excellent photo-stability and reversibility which was also demonstrated, making this type of sensor potentially well suited for in-situ monitoring of mercury in the environment.
Highlights
Mercury pollution in soil due to mining and industrial activities poses a serious problem across the world both from an economic and health perspective [1,2,3]
A novel fluorescent polymeric material for Hg detection based on a derivative of coumarin of coumarin and an azathia crown ether moiety (acting as the mercury and an azathia crown ether moiety ion receptor) has been synthesized using the ion imprinting technique and covalently attached to has been synthesized using the ion imprinting technique and covalently attached to the distal end the distalofend an optical fibre
(1,4,7,10-tetrathia-13empty state is capable of quenching the fluorescence of the attached fluorophore by photoinduced electron transfer (PET), but in its azacyclopentadecanyl)methyl (STAMC, 4), was prepared in multiple steps starting from occupied state is not
Summary
Mercury pollution in soil due to mining and industrial activities poses a serious problem across the world both from an economic and health perspective [1,2,3]. The detection of mercury is very important for the protection of human health and the minimization of its exposure in the environment Such sensors would provide a warning of exposure and act as a trigger for treatment. This work has focused on developing a stable, compact, and portable fibre optic sensing system system which is capable of real-time detection of the mercury ion (II). A novel fluorescent polymeric material for Hg detection based on a derivative of coumarin of coumarin (acting as the fluorophore) and an azathia crown ether moiety (acting as the mercury (acting as the fluorophore) and an azathia crown ether moiety (acting as the mercury ion receptor) ion receptor) has been synthesized using the ion imprinting technique and covalently attached to has been synthesized using the ion imprinting technique and covalently attached to the distal end the distalofend an optical fibre.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
