Rapid and sensitive screening of multiple polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by a reusable fluorescent sensor array

Abstract

Simple and rapid sensing of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) remains a great technical challenge due to their chemical stability and structural similarity. Here, a simple, sensitive and cost-effective sensing strategy is proposed to detect multiple PAHs by utilizing the inner filter effect (IFE) and a reusable fluorescent sensor array consisting of four polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite carbon quantum dots (CDs) film sensors. The CDs/PVA films have a wide and tunable excitation range, which provide sufficient spectral overlap with PAHs and ensure the efficient occurrence of IFE. Under different excitations, the diverse UV absorption capacities of PAHs resulted in diverse spectral responses, enabling a unique chemical fingerprint for each PAH. Upon multivariate pattern recognition analysis, the array rendered high-throughput discrimination and sensitive quantification of 16 priority PAHs with 100% classification accuracy and detection limit as low as 57 nM. Moreover, the rapid and accurate screening of multiple environmental samples were also realized with the results consistent with high-performance liquid chromatography. This IFE-based reusable array is readily prepared, green and feasible, which exhibits great potential in environmental analysis and brings an advanced strategy to high-throughput sensing of more pollutants with similar structures and lack of recognition sites.