Highly selective fluorescent sensing for CN- in water: utilization of the supramolecular self-assembly

A simple 4-amino-3-hydroxynaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid is demonstrated to fluorescently sense CN- in water based on the mechanism of supramolecular self-assembly. This work provides a novel approach for the selective recognition of CN- anions. The detection limit of the sensor towards CN- is 3.2 x 10(-7) M, and other anions, including F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, AcO-, H2PO4-, HSO4- and ClO4-, had nearly no influence on the probing behavior. Notably, the test strips based on S-4 were fabricated, which could act as convenient and efficient CN- test kits.