Self-assembled triphenylamine derivative for trace detection of picric acid

Abstract

Detection of explosives is of utmost importance due to the threat to human security as a result of illegal transport and terrorist activities. Picric acid (PA) is widely used in the industrial and military fields, and is inadvertently able to contaminate the environment and groundwater, posing a threat to human health.Achieving the detection of explosives at the parts per billion (ppb) level using chemosensors is a great challenge. Herein, we demonstrate that triphenylamine based fluorescent chemosensors tris(4 0 -carbethoxybiphenyl) amine (TCEPA) and tris(4 0 -carboxybiphenyl) amine (TCPA) exhibit superior detection capability for PA in solution state at the ppb level (40 ppb and 5 ppb respectively) and efficient quenching behaviours in the vapor phase at room temperature. In addition, fluorescent test strips have been prepared by dip-coating Thin Layer Chromatography (TCL) for trace detection of PA at the attogram level.

A cationic thorium–organic framework with triple single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation peculiarities for ultrasensitive anion recognition

“…S6 and S7). 56 Furthermore, the PL decay curves shown in Fig. S8 suggest comparable lifetimes (6.48 vs. 5.77 μs) of Th-SINAP-200 and H 3 TCBPA, confirming the ligand-based emission of Th-SINAP-200.…”

Triphenylamine-based small-molecule fluorescent probes

“…17) for the detection of picric acid in the solution phase as well as in the vapour phase. 99 For both probes, the fluorescence emission intensity rapidly decreased upon the addition of increasing amounts of PA solution, but, interestingly, the quenching efficiencies of 67 and 68 toward PA were found to be 82% and 95%, respectively. From scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, the authors found that the interactions of 67 and 68 with PA, possibly through multiple hydrogen bonds, lead to breakdown in the assembly morphology of 67 and 68 .…”

A Luminescent Nanocrystal Marker for the Selective and Ultrasensitive Detection of Explosives

“…In the static mechanism, the lifetime of the luminescent probe will remain unchanged due to the formation of a non‐emissive ground state complex through the bonding between the luminescent probe and the quencher (PA). In the dynamic quenching mechanism, the lifetime will be reduced due to the electron transfer between the excited state luminescent probe and the quencher (PA) . To explore the quenching mechanism, we measured the photoluminescence lifetime of the luminescent nanocrystals before (2.84 ms) and after (1.02 ms) the addition of PA.…”