Terbium hybrid particles with spherical shape as luminescent probe for detection of Cu2+ and Fe3+ in water

A novel green emissive terbium inorganic-polymeric hybrid particle was designed and this material could detect cations in water. Polyvinyl alcohol as an amphiphilic surfactant rendered the powders dispersible in water with regular round shape (10-20 mu m). Interestingly, we noticed that not only Cu2+ (detection limit 10(-4) M) but also Fe3+ (detection limit 10(-4) M) can give rise to emission quenching to this target material in comparison with K+, Na+, Fe2+, Mn2+, Pd2+, Cd2+ and Co2+ (10(-3) mol L-1). We regarded that the coordination interactions between ligand and metal ions resulted in these quenching processes. Additionally, it was found that the sensing material can be repeatedly used at least 5 cycles. More importantly, this novel material demonstrated higher thermal-stability in aqueous media than pure silica hybrid material. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.