Multicomponent Rare-Earth Metal-Organic Gels Empowered by Electro-Optical Signal Multi-Source Regulation for...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Propyl gallate (PG) is a food additive with potential health risks upon dietary exposure.
• Sensitive and selective detection methods for PG are crucial for food safety.
• Existing detection methods may lack visual or dual-modal capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel dual-modal sensing platform for the visual detection of propyl gallate (PG).
• To synthesize and characterize multicomponent rare-earth metal-organic gels integrated with nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CDs).
• To investigate the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and fluorescence (FL) sensing mechanisms for PG.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of N-CDs@Eu³⁺/Y³⁺-DL-MOGs using dual ligands and biomass-derived N-CDs.
• Utilizing Eu³⁺/Y³⁺ sensitization via antenna ligands and N-CDs for dual-modal sensing.
• Incorporating boronate-affinity units and molecularly imprinted polymers for selective PG recognition.

Main Results:

• Achieved sensitive ECL detection of PG with a limit of detection of 0.267 nM.
• Demonstrated visual detection of PG through fluorescence emission color changes.
• Y³⁺ incorporation effectively suppressed nonradiative energy dissipation, enhancing luminescence.
• N-CDs provided conductivity and blue fluorescence, sensitizing the dual-modal sensing capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The developed N-CDs@Eu³⁺/Y³⁺-DL-MOGs sensor offers a novel dual-modal approach for PG detection.
• This study presents effective strategies for multi-source regulation in dual-modal sensing.
• The sensor provides a promising tool for visual and sensitive detection of food contaminants.