Hexavalent
chromium [Cr(VI)] is considered a serious environmental
pollutant that possesses a hazardous effect on humans even at low
concentrations. Thus, the development of a bifunctional material for
ultratrace-selective detection and effective elimination of Cr(VI)
from the environment remains highly desirable and scarcely reported.
In this work, we explore an imidazolium-appended polyfluorene derivative
PF-DBT-Im as a highly sensitive/selective optical probe and a smart
adsorbent for Cr(VI) ions with an ultralow detection limit of 1.77
nM and removal efficiency up to 93.7%. In an aqueous medium, PF-DBT-Im
displays obvious transformation in its emission color from blue to
magenta on exclusively introducing Cr(VI), facilitating naked-eye
colorimetric detection. Consequently, a portable sensory device integrated
with a smartphone is fabricated for realizing real-time and on-site
visual detection of Cr(VI). Besides, the imidazolium groups attached
onto side chains of PF-DBT-Im are found to be highly beneficial for
achieving selective and efficient elimination of Cr(VI) with capacity
as high as 128.71 mg g–1. More interestingly, PF-DBT-Im
could be easily regenerated following treatment with KBr and can be
recycled at least five times in a row. The main factor behind ultrasensitive
response and excellent removal efficiency is found to be anion-exchange-induced
formation of a unique ground-state complex between PF-DBT-Im and Cr(VI),
as evident by FT-IR, XPS, and simulation studies. Thus, taking advantage
of the excellent signal amplification property and rich ion-exchange
sites, a dual-functional-conjugated polymer PF-DBT-Im is presented
for the concurrent recognition and elimination of Cr(VI) ions proficiently
and promptly with great prospects in environmental monitoring and
water decontamination.