A Ratiometric Afterglow Response of Aluminium Ions in Methanol-Water

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Afterglow emission is valuable for displays and imaging.
• Rhodamine dyes and boronate nanoparticles offer unique optical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize a novel afterglow material for Al3+ detection.
• To investigate the mechanism of afterglow modulation by Al3+.
• To explore applications in chemosensing and encryption.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a boronic acid-appended rhodamine dye.
• Grafting the dye onto room-temperature phosphorescence-active boronate nanoparticles (BPs).
• Spectroscopic analysis of the resulting 1@BP ensemble and its response to Al3+.

Main Results:

• The 1@BP ensemble exhibited a greenish afterglow.
• Addition of Al3+ caused a color shift to grass green due to Förster-type energy transfer.
• A linear response for Al3+ detection was observed in the 3.8–15.2 μM range with a 4.2 μM detection limit.
• Metal ion-dependent color changes were observed on filter paper.

Conclusions:

• The developed material functions as an effective afterglow chemosensor for Al3+.
• The material's color-changing properties are suitable for film-based sensors and encryption applications.
• This work highlights the potential of integrating phosphorescent nanoparticles with responsive dyes.