Synthesis of photoluminescent o-phenylenediamine–m-phenylenediamine copolymer nanospheres: An effective fluorescent sensing platform for selective and sensitive detection of chromium(VI) ion.

In this paper, we demonstrated a fluorescent o-phenylenediamine–m-phenylenediamine copolymer sensing system, which was synthesized by a facile and one-step hydrothermal method. The copolymer was first used as fluorescent probe for the detection of Chromium(VI) ion (Cr 6+ ) and showed high selectivity and sensitivity. The detection limit was 1×10 −11 M. It showed excellent linear relationships in wide range of 7×10 −11 –6×10 −10 M. Moreover, the addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) to the detection system could successfully combine with Cr 6+ to form metal chelates, making the fluorescence recovery of o-phenylenediamine–m-phenylenediamine copolymer. What is important, the prepared process had no addition of initiating agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]