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

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 μm). 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.