Ultrasensitive detection of UO22+ based on dopamine‐functionalized MoOx quantum dots.

Uranium is an important nuclear fuel and the risk of human exposure to uranium increases as increasing amounts of uranium‐containing waste enter the environment due to the rapid growth of nuclear power. Therefore, rapid, sensitive, and portable uranium detection is a promising approach to effectively control and monitor uranium contamination. To achieve this goal, abundant oxygen‐ and nitrogen‐containing groups were introduced to molybdenum oxide quantum dot (MoOx QDs) surfaces with dopamine (DA) modification. Due to the excellent coordination ability of oxygen‐ and nitrogen‐containing groups with uranium, the obtained DA‐functionalized MoOx QDs (DA‐MoOx QDs) showed a strong binding affinity for uranium and sensitivity was increased nearly 1000‐fold compared with MoOx QDs alone. The limit of detection was 3.85 nM, which is higher than most of the reported nanomaterials. Moreover, the DA‐MoOx QD‐based method showed high selectivity and uranium could be clearly detected under masking with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid even when the concentration of other metal ions was 100‐fold higher than that of uranium, showing a very promising method for uranium contamination control and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]