Design and Synthetic Scheme of Water Dispersible Graphene Oxide-Coumarin Complex for Ultra-Sensitive Fluorescence Based Detection of Copper (Cu2+) Ion in Aqueous Environment

Abstract

Copper oxides and its salts are now widely used as pesticides to control fungal and bacterial diseases of field crops. Copper toxicity is often a major contributor of human health problems caused through accumulation of excess copper ions in various organs via drinking water, fruits and vegetables. So, detection and estimation of cupric ions in biological organs, drinking water, fruits and vegetables are extremely important. Recently, a fluorescence based sensor using coumarin dye (high quantum yield) has been proposed to detect micro-molar Cu++ ion in biological organs. But major problem with coumarin dye is that it is insoluble in water and undergoes dye-dye aggregation in organic solvents. We proposed here a synthetic scheme of preparation of graphene oxide conjugated coumarin dye derivative which would be water dispersible and expected to be an ideal candidate for Cu2+ ion estimation in biological organs and drinking water.