Internet of Things-Enabled Aggregation-Induced Emission Probe for Cu2+Ions: Comprehensive Investigations and Three-Dimensional Printed Portable Device Design

Abstract

Herein, we have developed a novel aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probe and three-dimensional (3D) printed portable device for copper (Cu2+) sensing in an aqueous medium. A ubiquitous synthetic route has been employed to devise the anthracene-conjugated imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine (TL19) probe as a unique anchor for Cu2+ ions. The TL19 is meticulously characterized through pivotal spectroscopic techniques, and the satisfactory results were obtained. The solvatochromic analysis and density functional theory calculations cohesively reveal that the TL19 exhibits the intramolecular charge transfer transition upon photoexcitation. Intriguingly, the TL19 exhibits spherically shaped nanoaggregates and enhanced fluorescence in DMSO/water (10:90) mixtures. This fluorescent nanoaggregate instantaneously responded toward the detection of Cu2+ via a deaggregation mechanism. The detection limit is found to be 9 pM in an aqueous medium. Further, the detection of Cu2+ in the HeLa cells has also been achieved due to bright green fluorescence, photostability, and biocompatibility nature of TL19 aggregates. On the other hand, an internet of things (IoT)-embedded 3D printed portable device is constructed for the detection of Cu2+ ions in real water samples. The Cu2+ detection is achieved through an IoT device, and results were acknowledged through an android application in 3.32 s round-trip time. Thus, the IoT-enabled AIE probe could be a prospective device for Cu2+ detection in a constrained environment.