An aggregation induced emission enhancement-based ratiometric fluorescent sensor for detecting trace uranyl ion (UO22+) and the application in living cells imaging

A ratiometric fluorescence detection method for trace amount of uranyl ion (UO22+) was developed in this study, based on aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) characteristics of 3-hydroxyflavone salicylaldehyde azine (HFSA) and luminescent signal of UO22+-HFSA complex in soluble state. The fluorescent ratio (l(457)/l(534)) was linearly related to the concentration of UO22+ in the range of 0.5-20 ppb (part per billion). Analytical data showed that a detection limit of 0.5 ppb was achieved with the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) 13% (n=5). The proposed method could also be utilized for imaging UO22+ in living cells by ratiometric fluorescence changes. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.