Supramolecular oligourethane gel as a highly selective fluorescent “on–off–on” sensor for ions

Feng, Yulin; Jiang, Nan; Zhu, Dongxia; Su, Zhongmin; Bryce, Martin R.

doi:10.1039/d0tc02381g

Supramolecular oligourethane gel as a highly selective fluorescent “on–off–on” sensor for ions

Feng, Yulin; Jiang, Nan; Zhu, Dongxia; Su, Zhongmin; Bryce, Martin R.

Authors

Yulin Feng

Nan Jiang

Dongxia Zhu

Zhongmin Su

Professor Martin Bryce m.r.bryce@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive supramolecular gels (SRSGs) are an important class of smart materials. It is of practical importance to develop an SRSG which can both detect and remove toxic metal ions. We have designed and synthesized an aggregation induced emission (AIE)-active oligourethane (OU) gelator which self-assembles into a supramolecular gel (OUG), through hydrogen-bonding, π–π stacking and van der Waals interactions. By taking advantage of the weak and dynamic nature of these non-covalent bonds, OUG shows stimuli-response to multiple factors. Importantly, OUG has the capacity for real-time detection and high selectivity for Fe3+, HSO4− and F−. The lowest detection limits are in the range of 5.89 × 10−9 to 8.17 × 10−8 M, indicating high sensitivity. More importantly, OUG is shown to adsorb and separate Fe3+ from aqueous solution, with an absorbing rate of up 97.5%. A simple writing board was fabricated, which could be written repeatedly and reused. OUG acts as a reversible and recyclable “on–off–on” fluorescence sensor via competitive cation–π and cation–anion interactions. OUG has great potential as an environmentally sustainable probe for ions.

Citation

Feng, Y., Jiang, N., Zhu, D., Su, Z., & Bryce, M. R. (2020). Supramolecular oligourethane gel as a highly selective fluorescent “on–off–on” sensor for ions. Journal of Materials Chemistry C Materials for optical and electronic devices, 8(33), 11540-11545. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0tc02381g

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 16, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jul 22, 2020
Publication Date	2020-09
Deposit Date	Oct 7, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Oct 7, 2020
Journal	Journal of Materials Chemistry C Materials for optical and electronic devices
Print ISSN	2050-7526
Electronic ISSN	2050-7534
Publisher	Royal Society of Chemistry
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	8
Issue	33
Pages	11540-11545
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1039/d0tc02381g