A novel fluorescent polymer brushes film as a device for ultrasensitive detection of TNT

Abstract

In this work, we first report the application of fluorescent polymer brushes film as a device for ultrasensitive and selective detection of TNT. As positively charged fluorescent molecules of quaternary ammonium tetraphenylethylene derivatives (d-TPE) were self-assembled on the brushes of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) by coulomb forces, we obtained a novel fluorescent polymer brushes film with excellent photoluminescent properties, and the emission could be quantitatively and sensitively responsive to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) due to the electron transfer between d-TPE and TNT. The limit of detection of TNT was established to be 0.1 ppb in water. The fluorescent device could also be used repeatedly for TNT detection, which indicated a promising application in trace explosive detection.

Two Luminescent Iridium Complexes with Phosphorous Ligands and Their Photophysical Comparison in Solution, Solid and Electrospun Fibers: Decreased Aggregation-Caused Emission Quenching by Steric Hindrance

“…Owing to the rather similar molecular structures of Ir(ppy) 2 (BPE) and Ir(ppy) 2 (TPP), their absorption spectra were nearly identical to each other, showing a major band peaking around 237 nm and two shoulder bands peaking at ~318 nm and ~369 nm, respectively. This observation is consistent with the literature conclusion that the photophysical performance of the Ir(C^N) 2 (L^X) complexes is controlled by the C^N ligand, while the L^X ligand serves as an auxiliary ligand which does not noticeably affect photophysical performance [ 4 , 5 ]. On the other hand, a slimmer absorption red shift was observed for Ir(ppy) 2 (BPE) compared to the Ir(ppy) 2 (TPP) absorption red shift.…”

Metal Nanoclusters–Based Ratiometric Fluorescent Probes from Design to Sensing Applications

“…It is crucial to develop the ratiometric fluorescent sensor for the detection powerful explosive compounds owing to its growing use in terrorist attacks and causing serious environmental pollutions . Recently, a novel and simple approach had been established for probing common explosive species (e.g., TNT, PETN, RDX) based on the differential response from BSA‐AuNCs and GSH‐capped Cu NCs by Baker group .…”

Explosive sensing by using polymer tip on the end of optical fiber

“…The electron-deficient nitro-aromatics explosives in particular are much stronger quenchers of the fluorescence of electron-rich chromophores than a number of possible quenching molecules, imparting a degree of selectivity to the detection mechanism [17]. However, some of the fluorescence indicators were coated on planar substrate [8,13,15,18] or detect explosives by titrate method [14], which with low fluorescence capture efficiency and remote sensing cannot be implemented.…”