Fluorescence Sensing Approach for High Specific Detection of 2,4,6-Trinitrophenol Using Bright Cyan Blue Color-Emittive Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Supported Copper Nanoclusters as a Fluorophore

Abstract

In this paper, we illustrate an efficient, convenient, and simplistic fluorescence technique for the specific identification for nitro explosive 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) in 100% water medium by bright cyan blue color-emitting poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-supported copper nanoclusters (PVP-CuNCs) as a fluorescence probe. PVP-CuNCs exhibited linear fluorescence quenching response toward the increasing concentration of TNP analyte. Surprisingly, TNP only reduces the emission signal of PVP-CuNCs, whereas various nitro explosives cause very slight reducing emission intensity, validating the good specificity of the PVP-CuNC probe toward TNP. The highest Stern-Volmer quenching constant (Ksv) value of 1.03 × 107 dm3 mol-1 and the extremely lowest limit of detection of 81.44 × 10-12 mol dm-3 were achieved solely for TNP in 100% water medium which is astonishing and exclusive for this nanoprobe. The sensing pathway for the high sensitivity of PVP-CuNCs assay to quantify the TNP is expected to combine with the inner filter effect process and static quenching. The static quenching mechanism between TNP and PVP-CuNCs is further verified by fluorescence decay measurements. Furthermore, the developed fluorescence sensing platform is applied for the quantification of a trace amount of TNP in real samples named dam water, sea water, and match stick.