Water-soluble aluminium fluorescent sensor based on aggregation-induced emission enhancement

• Published in: New journal of chemistry Vol. 43; no. 38; pp. 1532 - 1531
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Hanh Linh, Kumar, Naresh, Audibert, Jean-Frédéric, Ghasemi, Rasta, Lefevre, Jean-Pierre, Ha-Thi, Minh-Huong, Mongin, Cédric, Leray, Isabelle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: CAMBRIDGE Royal Soc Chemistry 30.09.2019; Royal Society of Chemistry; Royal Society of Chemistry [1987-....]
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Aluminum; Analytical chemistry; Aqueous solutions; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Dendritic structure; Emission; Fluorescence; Functional groups; Microfluidics; Physical Sciences; Portable equipment; Science & Technology; Selectivity; Sensors; Water chemistry; SPECIATION; AL3; SCHIFF-BASE; IONS; TOXICITY; EFFICIENT; TURN-ON CHEMOSENSOR; PROBES
• ISSN: 1144-0546; 1369-9261
• DOI: 10.1039/c9nj03532j

In the present work, we propose a new salicylaldehyde azine based water-soluble fluorescent sensor ( PSSA - 4-propoxysulfonate salicylaldehyde azine) dedicated to aluminium( iii ) detection in aqueous solutions. The introduction of sulfonate functional groups provides the probe with enhanced water-solubility, which is crucial for the direct analysis of polluted samples. We proved that aluminium( iii ) complexation with PSSA in water induces an aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) process leading to the formation of well-defined dendritic structures which have been characterized by different analysis techniques (DLS, SEM, and FLIM). A limit of detection towards aluminium( iii ) of 153 nM has been determined, which is more than one order of magnitude below the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline ( 3.7 μM). Moreover, satisfactory selectivity for this compound has been demonstrated over a large variety of metal cations. Finally, PSSA has been introduced into a digital microfluidic sensor chip, thus providing a sub-micromolar portable detection device devoted to aluminium( iii ) polluted water samples. Development of a portable miniature system for Al( iii ) detection in pure aqueous solutions using a novel AIEE compound.