Aggregation-induced emission-active fluorescent polymer sensors for the detection of water in organic solvents, Cu2+ and hemolysis. (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liang, Wendong; Liu, Dan; Huang, Jianbing; Liang, Hui; Lu, Jiang
• Is Part Of: Dyes and pigments. Volume 200(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: Aggregation-induced emission -- Fluorescent sensor -- Water detection -- Cu2+ -- Hemolysis; Dyes and dyeing -- Periodicals; Pigments -- Periodicals; 667.2
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dyepig.2022.110115
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-7208

Abstract

Abstract: The hydrophobic polymer HDDA-EDT-SADA with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property was synthesized via the thiol-ene click copolymerization of salicylaldehyde azine (SA) derivative diacrylate monomer SADA and commercially available 1, 2-ethanedithiol (EDT) and 1, 6-hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA). HDDA-EDT-SADA was found to display unexpected intense fluorescence in acetone and DMSO compared to that in other good solvents, which dramatically decreased by adding small amount of water. We demonstrate that HDDA-EDT-SADA can be used as a fluorescent sensor for water detection in acetone and DMSO. To improve the water solubility of the AIE-active polymer, SADA was copolymerized with dithiothreitol (DTT) and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) to give an amphiphilic AIE polymer PEGDA-DTT-SADA. Similar fluorescence phenomenon was also found in DMF, suggesting that PEGDA-DTT-SADA could serve as an indicator for water detection in DMF. Thanks to the PEG segments and DTT units, the PEGDA-DTT-SADA was able to well-disperse in water via the formation of stable micelles. The PEGDA-DTT-SADA selectively complexed with Cu 2+ and thus could be used as a fluorescent sensor for Cu 2+ detection in aqueous media. Moreover, the PEGDA-DTT-SADA could be utilized as a fluorescent sensor for hemolysis ratio detection of red blood cells (RBCs) due to the inner filter effect. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Hydrophobic and amphiphilic AIE polymer sensors were designed and synthesized. The AIE polymer sensor can be used for water, Cu 2+ and hemolysis rate detection. The polymer sensors show relatively low limit of detection.