Assessing the potential application of bio-compatibly tuned nanosensor of Yb2O3 for selective detection of imazapyr in real samples

Abstract

Imazapyr is one of the frequently employed herbicide for controlling the growth of broad range of terrestrial and perennial grasses grown along the crop fields. The excessive utilization of imazapyr has contaminated the water level at an alarming rate. So, there is an urgent need to develop a cheap, selective and sensitive sensor for the detection of imazapyr. Here, in this paper a novel bio-compatibly tuned fluorescent-nanosensor of APTES coated ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3) was fabricated under hydrothermal conditions. The surface modification with APTES has provided better control over the optical and luminescence properties of Yb2O3 nanoparticles and has been turned out as a contemporary approach for designing potential sensor for harmful toxins i.e. imazapyr. The higher biocompatibility and fluorescence properties have made Yb2O3 as one of the selective and sensitive material for the estimation of imazapyr. The quenching of fluorescence intensity for APTES coated Yb2O3 NPs was greatly magnified by increasing concentration of imazapyr and displayed a linear trend from 0−200 ppm with detection limit value of 0.2 ppm. The developed sensor has possessed excellent efficiency for sample collected from real field conditions and provided the wider scope in herbicide sensing.