Fluorescent silica-polymer composite microspheres for recognition and separation of 4-nitrophenol
摘要
The detection and removal of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) are of great significance. In this study, a silica composite microsphere integrating the functions of detection and adsorption was prepared. Firstly, silica microspheres with uniform particle size (c.a.300 nm) were synthesized. Then, the amino groups (–NH2) were introduced on the surface of the silica microspheres. At the same time, a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reagent containing an aldehyde group was sythesized. In the presence of initiator azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) and silica-based RAFT agent, silica-based fluorescent composite microspheres with polymer-coated surface were obtained by in-situ polymerization. It was found that the silica fluorescent composite microspheres had fair sensitivity and specificity for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) due to the enrichment inner filter effect (IFE) mechanism. The detection limits (LODs) of SiO2-PFMH-15 and SiO2-PFMH-100 were as low as 0.27 µM and 0.1 µM. The active sites on the surface of the microspheres can effectively adsorb 4-NP. The adsorption efficiency of SiO2-PFMH-15 and SiO2-PFMH-100 reached 69.1% and 97.6%, and the adsorption capacity reached 19.2 mg/g and 23.8 mg/g. In addition, the emission wavelength of the composite microspheres is in the near ultraviolet region, which has high anti-interference ability. This study provides a method for the simultaneous monitoring and removal of 4-NP.