Detection and Identification of Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ Based on the Cross-reactive Fluorescence Responses of a Dansyl-Functionalized Film in Different Solvents

A dansyl-functionalized fluorescent film sensor was specially designed and prepared by assembling dansyl on a glass plate surface via a long flexible spacer containing oligo(oxyethylene) and amine units. The chemical attachment of dansyl moieties on the surface was verified by contact angle, XPS, and fluorescence measurements. Solvent effect examination revealed that the polarity-sensitivity was retained for the surface-confined dansyl moieties. Fluorescence quenching studies in water declared that the dansyl-functionalized SAM possesses a higher sensitivity towards Hg(2+) and Cu(2+) than the other tested divalent metal ions including Zn(2+), Cd(2+), Co(2+), and Pb(2+). Further measurements of the fluorescence responses of the film towards Cu(2+) and Hg(2+) in three solvents including water, acetonitrile, and THF evidenced that the present film exhibits cross-reactive responses to these two metal ions. The combined signals from the three solvents provide a recognition pattern for both metal ions at a certain concentration and realize the identification between Hg(2+) and Cu(2+). Moreover, using principle component analysis, this method can be extended to identify metal ions that are hard to detect by the film sensor in water such as Co(2+) and Ni(2+).