Synthesis of Fluorophore Based Functional Material for Selective Detection of Al3+ Ion in Water and Decoding the AIEE Property of Its Hydrosol

Abstract

A designed aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) active fluorescence probe 2,3-Bis-[(2-hydroxy-napthalen-1-ylmethylene)-amino]-but-2-enedinitrile (L) was synthesized via one step condensation method. The probe shows swift sensitivity and selectivity toward Al³⁺over other relevant metal ions and also exhibits significant AIEE phenomena in methanol/water mixture. Significant enhancement of fluorescence intensity is triggered via chelation-enhanced fluorescence through complex (Al³⁺-L) formation. A 2:1 metal to ligand ratio is observed from Job's plot based on UV - Vis absorption titration and detection limit (LOD) is found as low as 31.14 nM. Moreover, 1H NMR titrations and fluorescence reversibility by adding Al³⁺ and EDTA sequentially had been performed to establish the binding site of sensor complex (Al³⁺-L). Time-resolved photoluminescence, dynamic light scattering, optical microscopy, and on-site visualization studies have been performed to understand the AIEE mechanism of L in different volume percentage of water and methanol mixture. An INHIBIT molecular logic gate has been constructed utilizing the fluorescence behavior of the probe, L in presence of Al³⁺ and strong chelating ligand EDTA.

Keywords: AIEE; Al (III) Sensor; DLS; Fluorescence; TCSPC.