Issue 5, 2022

Molecularly imprinted nanocomposites of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals: an approach towards fast and selective gas sensing of explosive taggants

Abstract

Chemical sensors based on metal halide perovskites have recently attracted tremendous interest because of their excellent photophysical properties. In this work, we report the synthesis of a solid-state luminescent gas sensor based on a nanocomposite of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) using 3-nitrotoluene (3-NT) and nitromethane (NM) as template molecules. The MIP sensor fabrication is straightforward and low-cost: the molecular imprinting process occurs inside the nanocomposite of CsPbBr3 NCs in polycaprolactone (PCL) during the baking step after spin-coating. The sensing capability of the MIP sensors was evaluated and compared to that of the non-imprinted polymer (NIP) by monitoring the photoluminescence (PL) upon exposure to vapours of different explosive taggants, nitro-containing molecules and some organic solvents. The nanocomposite sensors show a fast response time to analytes below 5 s. The molecular imprinting enhances the PL response of MIP sensors and a robust specificity to 3-NT, and an excellent selectivity towards nitro-containing molecules, particularly when NM is used as the template molecule. Chromatography confirms that molecular imprinting of CsPbBr3–PCL with NM provides two times more selective binding sites than 3-NT and four times more sites than non-imprinted polymer sensors. Surface topography also suggests that the molecular imprinting in NM MIP is higher than that in 3-NT MIP. These facts confirm that molecular imprinting successfully generates specific recognition sites, allowing fast detection of 3-NT below 3 s with a limit of detection as low as 0.218 μg mL−1.

Graphical abstract: Molecularly imprinted nanocomposites of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals: an approach towards fast and selective gas sensing of explosive taggants

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 okt 2021
Accepted
20 dec 2021
First published
20 dec 2021

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022,10, 1754-1766

Molecularly imprinted nanocomposites of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals: an approach towards fast and selective gas sensing of explosive taggants

E. Aznar-Gadea, I. Sanchez-Alarcon, A. Soosaimanickam, P. J. Rodriguez-Canto, F. Perez-Pla, J. P. Martínez-Pastor and R. Abargues, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 1754 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC05169E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements