Wet-spinning of fluorescent fibers based on gold nanoclusters-loaded alginate for sensing of heavy metal ions and anti-counterfeiting

Ying He; Enhui Du; Xu Zhou; Ji Zhou; Yu He; Yong Ye; Jinfeng Wang; Bin Tang; Xungai Wang

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2020.118031

Wet-spinning of fluorescent fibers based on gold nanoclusters-loaded alginate for sensing of heavy metal ions and anti-counterfeiting

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2020 Apr 5:230:118031. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118031. Epub 2020 Jan 7.

Authors

Ying He¹, Enhui Du¹, Xu Zhou¹, Ji Zhou², Yu He¹, Yong Ye³, Jinfeng Wang⁴, Bin Tang⁵, Xungai Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Hubei University, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan 430062, China.
² Hubei University, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan 430062, China. Electronic address: zhouji@hubu.edu.cn.
³ Hubei University, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan 430062, China. Electronic address: yeyong@hubu.edu.cn.
⁴ Deakin University, Institute for Frontier Materials, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia; Wuhan Textile University, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Yarn and Fabric Formation and Clean Production, Wuhan 430073, China.
⁵ Deakin University, Institute for Frontier Materials, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia; Wuhan Textile University, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Yarn and Fabric Formation and Clean Production, Wuhan 430073, China. Electronic address: bin.tang@deakin.edu.au.

PMID: 31931357
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118031

Abstract

Fluorescent and robust fibers based on gold nanoclusters-loaded alginate were successfully prepared by wet spinning of gold nanoclusters and alginate. The relationship between process conditions, mechanical properties, and fluorescent properties of fibers was investigated. The as-prepared fibers exhibited high mechanical strength (up to 7.09 cN/dtex) and remarkable red emission under ultraviolet excitation. The fibers could be used as a simple, low-cost, and high-selectivity fluorescent sensor for detecting Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ among various metal ions in aqueous solution, with a detection limit as low as 187.99 nM for Cu²⁺ and 82.14 nM for Hg²⁺, respectively. Furthermore, the novel fluorescent fibers were used as an anti-counterfeiting label through knitting into textile materials. The wet-spun functional fibers may be applied to the design of smart wearable sensors and flexible optical sensors.

Keywords: Anti-counterfeiting; Fluorescent fiber; Gold nanocluster; Sensing; Wet-spinning.