A supramolecular strategy for ratiometric luminescence sensing of nitroaromatic explosives in water

Abstract

In the present work we have demonstrated a supramolecular approach for ratiometric luminescence sensing of nitroaromatic explosive compounds (NAEs) by employing a red luminescent Eu(III) complex and a green luminescent Pt(II) complex with in a Triton X-100 surfactant based micellar host in water. The Eu-complex gets entrapped inside micellar core whereas the Pt-C2 remains grafted on the surface of the spherical micelles due to their structural amendments and thus facilitates preferential interaction of Pt-C2 with NAE molecules mainly through π-π interaction. The presence of explosive traces quenches the green emission (508-545 nm) of Pt-complex whereas the red emission (614 nm) of Eu-complex remains unaffected. The strategy demonstrates first report of two independent luminophore based ratiometric sensing in water using a micellar host.