Photoinduced charge-separated molecular probe for ultrasensitive spectrum analysis and rapid colorimetric detection of platinum ions

Wenhui Feng; Zhuoma Zengji; Thomas T Testoff; Tianyang Wang; Xilong Yan; Wei Li; Dongzhi Liu; Lichang Wang; Xueqin Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2021.338278

Photoinduced charge-separated molecular probe for ultrasensitive spectrum analysis and rapid colorimetric detection of platinum ions

Anal Chim Acta. 2021 Apr 8:1153:338278. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2021.338278. Epub 2021 Feb 3.

Authors

Wenhui Feng¹, Zhuoma Zengji¹, Thomas T Testoff², Tianyang Wang³, Xilong Yan¹, Wei Li¹, Dongzhi Liu¹, Lichang Wang⁴, Xueqin Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Functional Fine Chemicals, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300354, PR China.
² Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Materials Technology Center, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, United States.
³ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, PR China.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Functional Fine Chemicals, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300354, PR China; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Materials Technology Center, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, United States. Electronic address: lwang@chem.siu.edu.
⁵ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Functional Fine Chemicals, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300354, PR China. Electronic address: zhouxueqin@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 33714447
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2021.338278

Abstract

Increased utilization of platinum ions in chemicals and drugs escalates environmental pollution and toxicity associated with Pt ions. However, current analysis and detection strategies of Pt ions display limited sensitivity due to the similar inert metal nature of platinum to gold. Herein, a photoinduced charge-separated molecule (MTPA)₂Ab was synthesized as a probe for enhanced sensitive selection of Pt ions. Long-lived charge-separated states generated upon exposure to 365 nm light lead to a stable complex between (MTPA)₂Ab and PtCl₂/PtCl₄ with highly-selectivity via sequential photoinduced electron transfers. Owing to the linear relationship of complex characteristic absorption and fluorescence emission intensities to Pt²⁺/Pt⁴⁺ concentrations, ultrasensitive spectrum analysis of Pt ions is achieved with a detection limit of 14.2 nM (2.8 ppb) for Pt²⁺ and 12.6 nM (2.5 ppb) for Pt⁴⁺ by an absorption spectrometer and 9.8 nM (1.9 ppb) for Pt ions (Pt²⁺/Pt⁴⁺) by a fluorescence spectrometer, far less than the reported values. Furthermore, a portable test box is developed based on (MTPA)₂Ab test strips due to distinguishable color change with Pt²⁺/Pt⁴⁺ concentrations for rapid colorimetric detection of Pt ions. The results highlight the promise of photoinduced charge-separated molecular probe in ultrasensitive and rapid detection of Pt ions to overcome current limitations of detection strategies.

Keywords: Detection platinum ions; Molecular probe; Photoinduced charge-separated; Ultrasensitive spectrum analysis.