A novel Hg(II) ion imprinted polymer (IIP) was synthesized by bulk polymerization using the Hg(II) ion as a template, 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) as a monomer, 8-hydroxyquinoline as a specific ligand for Hg(II), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as a crosslinker. The Hg(II) IIP was systematically characterized by adsorption tests, FTIR spectroscopy, pore size analysis and SEM studies. Under the optimized condition, the maximum adsorption of Hg(II) IIP was 143.8 mg g À1 , nearly three times higher than that of the non ion-imprinted polymer (NIP) (52.6 mg g À1 ). The synthesized Hg(II) IIP had a good selectivity for the Hg(II) ion compared with other ions. The trace amounts of Hg(II) in tap water and river water samples were measured by the sequential injection-vapor generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (SI-VG-AFS) in a linear range of 0.01-1 mg L À1 , with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.005 mg L À1 .

A novel potentiometric sensor of yttrium(III) ion was designed by embedding the yttrium(III) ion-imprinted polymer (Y 3+ IIP) particles in poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix. The (Y 3+ IIP) was prepared by using a single pot method. The sensor shows a Nernstian response for yttrium(III) over a wide concentration range (5 × 10-7 to 5 × 10-2 M) with a slope of 29.8 mV per decade. The detection limit can reach as low as 3 × 10-7 M. The proposed sensor has a fast response time (less than 10 s) and offers a high selectivity with respect to several alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions and can be used in a pH range of 6.5-8.5. This sensor was applied as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration and has been successfully used for the determination yttrium(III) in the yttrium-aluminium alloy sample with direct potentiometry.

The surface inert of luminescent gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) toward biomolecules set a challenge to further exploit their bioanalytical applications using the direct luminescence response. Herein, we report a novel approach to induce significant luminescence quenching of the AuNPs upon the interaction with a metal coordination ligand tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP), providing a strategy for the detection of HO with a limit of detection (LOD) of 14 nM through the reaction between HO and TCEP to protect the luminescence quenching of the AuNPs. Furthermore, this strategy is also extended for sensitive and selective detection of glucose with a LOD of 1.1 μM based on monitoring the production of HO catalyzed from the oxidation of glucose. The highly extendable feature of this strategy can have great potential in the sensitive detection of other biomolecules. Graphical Abstract A facile and extendable strategy has been developed for the sensitive detection of HO and glucose based on the interaction between luminescent gold nanoparticles and TCEP, a metal coordination ligand.

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