A potential fluorescence detection approach to trace hexachlorobenzenevia disaggregating with ethanol

Abstract

A potential ultra-sensitive detection approach for hexachlorobenzene (HCB), based on the measurement of the intrinsic fluorescence of well-separated HCB molecules in ethanol, has been proposed. Owing to the strong intermolecular π–π stacking interaction of the planar aromatic rings, self-aggregated HCB shows almost no fluorescence. However, the intrinsic emission of HCB can readily be detected in ethanol due to the enhanced emission from the disaggregated HCB, which is related to the hydrogen bond formation between ethanol and HCB. By simply measuring the HCB intrinsic fluorescence, a HCB concentration a little bit higher than 10⁻¹⁴ M (∼0.001 ppt) in ethanol can be detected; moreover, the fluorescence intensity of the HCB increases linearly with the HCB concentration ranging from 10⁻¹⁰ to 10⁻⁷ M. The approach might provide a simple, fast and efficient method for HCB quantification.