Fluorescent Nanomicelles for Selective Detection of Sudan Dye in Pluronic F127 Aqueous Media

Novel self-assembled water-soluble nanomicelles that contain fluorescent conjugated polymers (poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO) or poly[2,7-(9,9-dihexylfluorene)-alt-4,4'-phenylether] (PF-PE)) have been obtained and used as the highly sensitive/selective platform for Sudan dye detection. The Fluorescent nanomicelles exhibited a highly selective fluorescence quenching by the prohibited food additive Sudan I, while not for the natural pigments: Capsanthin and Beta-carotene, due to the more suitable matching of the LUMOs (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) of the conjugated polymers with that of Sudan I molecules. The Stern-Volmer constants (K(SV)) of PF-PE/F127 and PFO/F127 for Sudan I were 1,040,480 and 665,000 M(-1), respectively, which were more than 100 times higher than those of the same conjugated polymers in the orgainc solvents. The significantly enhanced sensitivity was due to the collective effect of the F127 micelles to both chromophore and analyte, through which the fluorophone-analyte binding interaction is significantly strengthened and efficient photoinduced charge transfer occurs. The as-proposed materials and approach may be potentially applied in the real-time food safety screening.