Ratiometric and colorimetric sensors for highly sensitive detection of water in organic solvents based on hydroxyl-containing polyimide-fluoride complexes

Yancheng Wu; Jingqi Ji; Yubin Zhou; Zhigeng Chen; Shumei Liu; Jianqing Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2020.02.043

Ratiometric and colorimetric sensors for highly sensitive detection of water in organic solvents based on hydroxyl-containing polyimide-fluoride complexes

Anal Chim Acta. 2020 Apr 29:1108:37-45. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2020.02.043. Epub 2020 Feb 25.

Authors

Yancheng Wu¹, Jingqi Ji¹, Yubin Zhou¹, Zhigeng Chen², Shumei Liu³, Jianqing Zhao⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China; Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China; Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China. Electronic address: liusm@scut.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China; Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China. Electronic address: psjqzhao@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 32222242
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2020.02.043

Abstract

Two new hydroxyl-containing polyimides (PIs) with excellent comprehensive performances were designed and synthesized. After PIs react with fluoride ion (F^-), the resulting polyimide-fluoride complexes (PI-1·F and PI-2·F) are exploited as ratiometric and colorimetric sensors for detecting trace water in DMSO/DMF with high sensitivity. Both sensors PI-1·F and PI-2·F exhibit a good naked-eye visual detection as well as an excellent linear relationship between the UV-vis absorbance ratio and the low water content in DMSO/DMF, which constitutes a quantitative method for determining water content in DMSO/DMF. The limits of detection (LOD) of sensor PI-1·F for water in DMSO and DMF are as low as 0.0035% and 0.0031% (v/v), respectively. The sensor PI-2·F shows the higher sensitivity for water detection with extremely low detection limits of 0.00084% and 0.0015% in DMSO and DMF, respectively. Furthermore, PI films have been directly used for the visual sensing of water in acetonitrile, acetone and ethanol, which provides an effective way for fabricating high-performance film-based water sensor devices.

Keywords: Film-based sensor; Organic solvents; Polyimide-fluoride complexes; Ratiometric and colorimetric sensor; Water content.