engleski

Test strips for mercury (II) detection based on fluorescent benzimidazole derivatives as optical transducers

Novel functional materials based on benzimidazole derivates are a growing area of research. The structure-related properties of the benzimidazole unit, such as its similarity to naturally occurring nucleotides, electron accepting ability, π-bridging or chromogenic pH sensitivity/switching make it an exceptional structural candidate for the development of multifunctional molecular devices and materials [1]. At the same time, paper test strips are experiencing a major comeback to material science, because of the remarkable progress in wireless and mobile sensing technology and great interest for wearable and easy-to-use sensing materials. Here we present paper test strips for mercury (II) detection based on novel fluorescent benzimidazole derivatives. The optical system behaves like an irreversible chemical sensor - a chemodosimeter - and could thus be used as a single-shot test for the rapid and economic detection of mercury. The benzimidazole derivative is responsible for the formation of the analytical signal, whilst a lipophilic borate anion provides the sensing part of the optode, and is responsible for the detection of mercury ions in the sample. Borate salt decomposes in the presence of mercury ions, and at the same time, the ionic pair comprising the Fluorophore+Receptor− disintegrates [2, 3]. The mercury (II) sensitive test strips were prepared by drop casting the cocktail composed of fluorophore and anionic borate salt in a plasticised PVC matrix onto paper substrate. The mechanism of sensing activity, linear range, response time, and the stability of this novel functional material is characterised by UV-visible fluorescence spectrophotometry. This work was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation (project HRZZ-3386, iNFiNiTE–SENS).

mercury ; test strips ; benzimidazole ; chemodosimeter

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