A novel AIE active NIR fluorophore based triphenylamine for sensing of Hg²⁺ and CN^- and its multiple application

New strategies still need to be proposed that can be used to sense and remove toxic environmental pollutants in a sensing system. In this research, a novel NIR fluorescence sensor 1 was designed and prepared with aggregation induced emission (AIE) property. The fluorescence intensity of the sensor 1 in DMSO/H₂O mixed solvent was changed along with the proportion of water. The sensor 1 can be successfully used for real-time detection and removal of Hg²⁺ in 20% DMSO aqueous solution with high selectivity, quick response and so on. Furthermore it can be efficiently reused and recycled without any loss through Na₂S. In addition, the sensor 1 displayed high sensitivity and selectivity to cyanide ions in 1% DMSO aqueous solution with the presence of other interference anions. The sensing mechanism for Hg²⁺ and cyanide ion was evaluated by ¹H NMR spectra, Mass spectrometry. The sensor 1 exhibited low cytotoxicity for biological applications, which was used as an outstanding fluorescent transducer for detection of cyanide ion in living cells. Based on the visible fluorescence change for the sensor 1 to cyanide ion, the measurement was performed for food materials containing cyanide, such as potato, cassava powder and almond. This research provides perspective potential in solving the problem of other pollution and stimulating new thinking for designing of the novel fluorescence materials.