Highly stable fluorescent probe based on mesoporous silica coated quantum dots for sensitive and selective detection of Cd2+

Abstract

Cadmium ions have been of crucial concern due to the high biological toxicity and serious environmental risks. Various fluorescent Cd-sensitive probes have been reported with improved sensing properties, but still severely suffer from poor stability and insufficient selectivity. In this work, a stable fluorescent probe based on silica encapsulated quantum dots (QDs) have been developed for rapid, sensitive and selective detection of cadmium ion. To improve fluorescence stability, the strategy of mesoporous silica encapsulation was adopted, in which the mesoporous silica shell offers numerous channels for Cd2+. Further, the Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) system, where QDs@mSiO2 and rhodamine B (RB) are used as donors and acceptors respectively, has been constructed, in which the mesoporous silica shell also serves as spacers with tunable thickness for controlling the QD-RB distance. Under optimal conditions, the probes possess a sensitive fluorescence response with a detection limit of 1.25 μM. Visual detection can be realized by the obvious fluorescence changes of the FRET system. In addition, the FRET system shows promising sensing performances both in tap water samples and rice-washed water samples, confirming a great potential for practical application.