Synthesis and properties of a new green water-soluble polymer for proton and metal-cation sensing

✍ Scribed by Yulin Hu; Baoyan Wang; Zhixing Su

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 257 KB
• Volume: 111
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.29215

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A novel water‐soluble colored polymer, based on 1,8‐naphthalimide, was synthesized through a series of easy reactions with high yields. It emitted green fluorescence both in an aqueous solution and in a solid state. Fluorescence characteristics of the polymer as a function of pH were investigated in aqueous solutions. The polymer solution showed weaker fluorescence in a more acidic medium. When the pH of the solution was higher than 5, stronger fluorescence could be seen with a p__K__~a~ value of 3.5. The presence of metal cations (Mn^2+^, Fe^3+^, Co^2+^, Ni^2+^, Cu^2+^, and Zn^2+^) could quench the fluorescence intensity of an aqueous solution of this polymer to different levels. It was highly sensitive to Cu^2+^ and Fe^3+^ present in the studied system. The results suggest that this newly synthesized compound could work as a polymeric sensor responding to water polluted by Cu^2+^, Fe^3+^, and protons. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009