Investigation of nitrogen content effect in reducing agent to prepare wavelength controllable fluorescent silicon nanoparticles and its application in detection of 2-nitrophenol

Fluorescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) displayed different emission wavelengths have been synthesized, but it has not been reported that the preparation of wavelength controllable SiNPs by adjusting the nitrogen content of reducing agents. In this paper, the wavelength-controlled fluorescent SiNPs were prepared by selecting the dopamine (DA) with nitrogen content between catechol and 2-aminophenol as the reducing agent and N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl]-ethylenediamine (DAMO) as the silicon source via one-step hydrothermal method. The emission wavelength of the prepared SiNPs was in direct proportion to the nitrogen content in the reducing agent. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time for exploring the nitrogen content in reducing agents could affect the optical properties of SiNPs so far. In addition, the obtained SiNPs could be applied to determinate 2-nitrophenol (2-NP). Based on the combination action of inner filter effect (IFE) and static quenching effect (SQE) mechanism, a wide linear range was obtained from 0.1 to 500 mu M, and the limit of detection was 0.029 mu M for 2-NP, which was comparable to or even lower than some previous reports. This SiNPs probe was also successfully employed for sensing of 2-NP in industrial effluent with satisfactory results (98.6%-103.4%).