Fluorescence study of 5-nitroisatin Schiff base immobilized on SBA-15 for sensing Fe3+

N’-(5-nitro-2-oxoindolin-3-ylidene) thiophene-2-carbohydrazide (NH) was successfully synthesized as a ligand, then grafted onto the surface of mesoporous silica SBA-15via an aminopropyl bridge. The successful grafting of ligand NH onto the hybrid nanomaterial (SBA-15/APTES-NH) was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. On excitation at 276 and 370 nm, the ligand NH and the hybrid nanomaterial SBA-15/APTES-NH showed a strong and narrow emission peak centered at 533 nm. By dispersing SBA-15/APTES-NH in an aqueous solution containing metal ions, the resulting solid materials showed a higher binding of NH sensing site to Fe3+ ions as compared to the others with a quench of the emission intensity up to 84%. This result showed that the hybrid nanomaterial is a potential chemosensor that requires development for the detection of metal ions.