Mesoporous silica equipped with europium-based chemosensor for mercury ion detection: Synthesis, characterization, and sensing performance

In this paper, we embed an Eu(III)-based chemosensor into a silica matrix of MCM-41, which is identified and confirmed by IR and small-angle X-ray diffraction spectra. The photophysical property of this composite material is analyzed. It is found that the emission coming from the Eu(III)-based chemosensor is immune to environmental influence due to the unique f–f radiative transitions. The sensing performance of the composite material is then investigated in detail. Data suggest that the composite material exhibits a good linear relationship with increasing Hg(II) concentrations from 1 to 12 μM, with KSV of 1.733 × 105 L/mol and linearly dependent coefficient of 0.9942. In addition, the emission of the composite material shows no obvious response towards interference from other metal ions and various pH values, which means that it is a promising chemo-sensing material for Hg(II) detection.