A Turn-On Fluorescence-Based Fibre Optic Sensor for the Detection of Mercury

The design, development, and evaluation of an optical fibre sensor for the detection of Hg(2+) in aqueous media are discussed in detail in this paper. A novel fluorescent polymeric material for Hg(2+) detection, based on a coumarin derivative (acting as the fluorophore) and an azathia crown ether moiety (acting as the mercury ion receptor), has been synthesized. The fluorophore was covalently immobilized onto the fibre surface by polymerisation using the ion imprinting technique and exhibited a significant increase in fluorescence intensity in response to Hg(2+) via a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The sensor provided a response over a concentration range of 0–28 µM with an acceptable response rate of around 11 min and a recovery rate of around 30 min in a Tris-EDTA buffer solution. A detection limit of 0.15 µM was obtained with a possibility of improvement by changing the thickness of the polymer layer and using a more sensitive detector. High-quality performance is seen through a high selectivity for Hg(2+) over other metal ions, excellent photo-stability and reversibility which was also demonstrated, making this type of sensor potentially well suited for in-situ monitoring of mercury in the environment.