A fluorescent supramolecular gel and its application in the ultrasensitive detection of CN− by anion–π interactions

Abstract

Supramolecular gels have been widely reported on account of their unique superiority and application prospects. In this work, we constructed a novel supramolecular gel (HD-G) by using hydroxy-naphthaldehyde decorated with naphthalimide in DMSO solution, which exhibited excellent selectivity and ultrasensitive sensing properties toward CN⁻ (the lowest detection limit is 1.82 × 10⁻¹⁰ M). The sensing mechanism of this supramolecular gel takes advantage of π–π stacking interactions and anion–π interactions, which is different from the other familiar methods.