Silicon nanoparticles-based ratiometric fluorescence platform: Real-time visual sensing to ciprofloxacin and Cu2+

In this work, a silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs)-based ratiometric fluorescence sensing platform was conveniently fabricated by simply mixing fluorescent Si NPs as co-ligands and reference signal with lanthanide metal ion Eu3+ as response signal. The introduction of ciprofloxacin (CIP) remarkably turned on the characteristic fluorescence of Eu3+ at 590 nm and 619 nm through the antenna effect. At the same time, the blue emission of Si NPs at 445 mu m kept comparatively stable. In the presence of Cu2+, the fluorescence emission of Eu3+ was sharply turned off because of the stronger coordination ability of Cu2+ with CIP. Meanwhile, the distinct fluorescent color change from bright blue to red, then back to blue, enabled naked-eye visual detection of CIP and Cu2+ in the solution phase and on paper-based test strip.

Automated summary

In this work, a ratiometric fluorescence sensing platform was successfully created using silicon nanoparticles and lanthanide metal ion Eu3+, allowing for the detection of ciprofloxacin and Cu2+ through visible color changes.