Highly sensitive optical sensor that detects Hg2+ and Cu2+ by immobilizing dicarboxylate 1,5-diphenyl-3-thiocarbazone on surface functionalized PVA microspheres

Abstract

A novel optical sensor to detect Hg2+ and Cu2+ is prepared by immobilizing a synthesized dicarboxylate 1,5-diphenyl-3-thiocarbazone (DDT) group on functionalized polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microspheres. This optical sensor is successfully fabricated by extensive characterization with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Its colorimetric properties, selectivity, sensitivity, and reversibility are investigated as well. In this sensing system, DDT–PVA selectively recognized multiple heavy metal ions, as indicated by the changes in color from orange to scarlet for Hg2+ and from orange to gray for Cu2+. In particular, this optical sensor exhibits the most apparent color changes at pH levels of 12 and 2. Hence, Hg2+ and Cu2+ can be detected in aqueous solution at minimum detection limits of 0.053 and 0.132μM, respectively, with a UV-vis spectrometer. Furthermore, the sensor can be regenerated by ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid and reused several times. Therefore, the optical sensor can detect Hg2+ because of its selectivity, sensitivity, and reversibility.