Water-soluble chitosan-based fluorescent probe for Al3+ detection: synthesis and sensing performance
摘要
Valorizing marine biowaste, this study reports the design of a novel water-soluble fluorescent chitosan derivative for Al3+ sensing. High-purity chitosan (97% DDA) extracted from shrimp shells was sequentially functionalized via a click chemistry and a Wittig reaction, introducing triazole and styrylanthracene fluorophore units to yield the Cs-Tri-An probe. A structural characterization (FT-IR, NMR) confirmed the successful synthesis and quantitative functionalization by Wittig reaction. Cs-Tri-An exhibits pronounced blue emission and organic semiconductor properties in aqueous solution. Its fluorescence sensing performance revealed a “turn-on” response toward Al3+, with a 31% enhancement. The probe forms a stable complex with Al3+ (binding constant K = 6.9 × 104 M−1) and achieves a nanomolar detection limit (LOD = 49.11 nM). These results demonstrate the successful modification of chitosan into a high-performance sensing material.