Detection of mercury(ii) in aqueous media using bodipy-functionalized magnetic fluorescent sporopollenin

RSC Adv. 2024 Oct 14;14(44):32239-32250. doi: 10.1039/d4ra06386d. eCollection 2024 Oct 9.

Abstract

Pollution from heavy metal ions has become a major issue worldwide. Water pollution, particularly with heavy metals like mercury, is a global problem. Developing environmentally friendly, low-cost, high-efficiency, sensitive, and selective sensors for the detection of mercury(ii) ions in aqueous environments has attracted great interest in industry and academia. In this research paper, a bodipy-functionalized magnetic fluorescent MSp-TAB hybrid material was developed for detecting mercury(ii) in aqueous media. The magnetic fluorescent MSp-TAB hybrid material was characterized using FT-IR, SEM, EDX, XRD, and TGA. We studied the influence of diverse factors such as contact time, temperature, and pH on the detection of Hg(ii). The fluorometric study demonstrated that the developed magnetic-fluorescent hybrid material was sensitive/selective for Hg(ii) ions in the absence and presence of interfering ions with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.72 μM. In conclusion, the developed magnetic fluorescent MSp-TAB hybrid material has demonstrated its applicability and potential for accurate, sensitive, and practical detection of Hg(ii) in tap water samples.