Issue 33, 2020

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

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.

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

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 May 2020
Accepted
16 Jul 2020
First published
22 Jul 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020,8, 11540-11545

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

Y. Feng, N. Jiang, D. Zhu, Z. Su and M. R. Bryce, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 11540 DOI: 10.1039/D0TC02381G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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