Highly sensitive and selective detection of phosphate using novel highly photoluminescent water-soluble Mn-doped ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots

Herein, the facile method with high selectivity for phosphate ion (Pi) sensing using novel Type-II core/shell Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots (QDs) was reported. This was the first time that Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs with highlighted optical properties were used for sensing. The water-soluble Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs with a high quantum yield of 7% were synthesized by aqueous synthetic method. Compared with traditional ZnSe QDs or Mn: ZnSe QDs, the smaller effective band gap, longer wavelength and lower ionization potential (high valence band edge) for effective hole localization made Type-II core/shell Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs to be stable and had high photoluminescence (PL). Only Mg(2+) was found to be able to enhance Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs PL selectively. The mechanism of fluorescence enhancement was attributed to the passivated surface nonradiative relaxation centers of Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs. In the presence of Pi anion, the PL intensity got quenched due to the aggregation species of QDs via electrostatic attraction between Pi and Mg(2+) on the surface of Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs. Therefore, the quenching effect can be used to detect Pi selectively. The PL was observed to be linearly proportional to the Pi analyte concentration in the range from 0.67 to 50.0 μmol/L, with a detection limit of 0.2μ mol/L (S/N=3). The novel "on-off" fluorescence nanosensor for Pi detection was sensitive and convenient in the real analysis application. The reported analytical method of Mn: ZnTe/ZnSe QDs is highly sensitive and selective, which can corroborate the extension of its usages in chemo/ biosensing and bioimaging.