Eco-friendly nonconjugated polymer dots for chemiluminometric determination of 4-nitrophenol

Polymer dots (PDs) are a new family of quantum dots for which their behavior and potential applications have not yet been completely explored. In this study, nonconjugated PDs were synthesized using a simple pyrolysis method and used for the chemiluminescence (CL) assay of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). PDs increased the CL signal of the Ce(IV)-Na₂ SO₃ reaction 39-fold. Using the CL spectrum, it was concluded that the emission at 434 nm was generated by excited PDs (PDs*), which are produced by energy transfer from SO₂ * to PDs. Our experiments showed that 4-NP enhanced the CL signal of the Ce(IV)-Na₂ SO₃ -PDs reaction. The mechanism of this effect was explored by obtaining CL, ultraviolet-visible, and Fourier transform infrared spectra. Due to the high sensitivity and selectivity of the CL system for 4-NP, a probe was designed to determine 4-NP in the linear range 1.0-500 nmol/L with a detection limit of 0.33 nmol/L. Different spiked real samples were successfully analyzed using this probe.