Highly efficient and selective supramolecular hydrogel sensor based on rhodamine 6G derivatives

A mercury ion sensitive fluorescent functional monomer was synthesized based on rhodamine 6G, and two highly-effective approaches about the research and development of novel macroscopic hydrogel sensor were reported. The monomer was utilized to synthesize hydrogel sensors by free radical polymerization and guest-host interaction. Hydrogel sensors have prominent selectivity to Hg²⁺ and can be tailored and reused, which are capable of detecting Hg²⁺ sensitively in flowing and standing water environment with satisfactory performance. This work is expected to open an avenue to construct novel fluorescent analysis method for Hg²⁺ detection.