Wereport on the rational design of a novel TiO2 based screen-printed material suitable for sensitive and selective\ud
detection of iron ions in water. This includes the synthesis and characterization of large mesoporous TiO2 nanostructures,\ud
screen-printing of thick titania films on glass surfaces and their functionalization with 2,2′:6′,2″-\ud
terpyridin-4′-ylphosphonic acid (terpy). The ultra-high affinity between iron ions and the TiO2-anchored terpy\ud
receptor makes this system potentially applicable to the analysis of iron in environmental, food, biological, and\ud
biomedical systems by a readily quantifiable colour change. Rapid (b30 s) colour change of the material from\ud
white to magenta permits easy detection of as low as 0.3 ppm of Fe2+ by the naked eye. The intensity of the colour\ud
change depends on the nature of the nanoparticles, the overall TiO2 film thickness, and the Fe2+ concentration.\ud
The material was characterized using profilometry, diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy, and X-ray\ud
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) before and after treatment with aqueous solutions of Fe2+. The designed material\ud
shows colour reversibility upon treatment with EDTA solutions, which allows for multiple reuses of the\ud
same film with no effect on sensitivity