Convenient,
low-cost chemosensors for hazardous mercury ion detection
have been receiving more and more attention in recent studies. However,
most of these practical studies are based on an ideal sterile detecting
atmosphere and ignore the role of bacteria in actual Hg(II) analytes.
Herein, we demonstrate a new type of hydrophilic semi-IPN fluorescent
polyHEAA hydrogel chemosensors fabricated by UV polymerization in
situ interpenetrating fluorescent polymer PA-NDBCB with a polyHEAA
network. Because of specific intermolecular interaction, i.e., hydrogen
bonding between hydrophilic fluorescent polymer and polyHEAA matrix
comprising a distinct semi-IPN structure, the mechanical property
of bulk fluorescent hydrogels can be greatly improved over that of
pure polyHEAA hydrogels. Moreover, the design of the hydrogel chemosensors
rely on the highly efficient cyclization reaction between Hg(II) ions
and the thiourea moieties that induce a visible “green-to-blue”
fluorescence color change. On account of the hydrophilic porous structures,
these hydrogel chemosensors achieve ultrafast, sensitive, selective
Hg(II) detection (detection limit of 0.067 μM) and enable facile
ratiometric actual detection in real-world aqueous system. Notably,
they maintain fluorescence emission and detection property even under
long-term coculture in a complex E. coli bacteria-laden
environment. This novel strategy could inspire future construction
of soft interfaces/fluorescent apparatus for hazardous Hg(II) detection
in a complex real-world system.