Abstract
In contrast to traditional instrument-dependent methods, fluorescent probes provide a cost-effective, efficient, and convenient approach for detecting microplastics (MPs) in aquatic ecosystems. However, the conventional dye-based sensors reported exhibit the limitations such as insolubility in water, low contrast, dependence on heating treatment, and limited adaptability. Encouragingly, the water-soluble aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules are desirable turn-on fluorescent probes, but their application for detecting MPs in water is rarely explored. In this work, we have developed two novel tetraphenylethene (TPE) derivatives with excellent water solubility by introducing dual-positive charge sites into TPE backbones (denoted as TPE-Phenyl-Py and TPE-Vinyl-Py), in which the TPE moieties are connected with pyridinium and quaternary ammonium-related cations through the phenyl group and vinyl group respectively. Remarkably, both of TPE derivatives enable in-situ detection of various MPs within 10 s in water due to the fluorescence is enhanced by the immobilization of TPE probes on MPs. Moreover, unlike traditional dyes that result in unchanged colors when staining different types of MPs, the colorful particles can be distinguished from each other based on their unique emission colors resulting from the immobilization-induced emission of TPE derivatives and the intrinsic fluorescence of MPs. Excitingly, as a result of its better hydrophilicity and weak background fluorescence, TPE-Vinyl-Py demonstrates excellent capability for detecting MPs leached from teabags steeped in 95℃ water. This work provides an effective strategy for exploring more turn-on fluorescent probes for MPs detection.
Published Version
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