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A fluorescent DNA based probe for Hg(II) based on thymine-Hg(II)-thymine interaction and enrichment via magnetized graphene oxide

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Abstract

The authors describe a fluorometric assay for the determination of Hg(II). A naphthalimide derivative is used as a label for a thymine (T) rich ssDNA, and graphene oxide magnetized with Fe3O4 nanoparticles acts as a quencher and preconcentrators. In the absence of Hg(II), the labeled ssDNA does not separate from the magnetized graphene oxide. As a result, fluorescence is fully quenched. In the presence of Hg(II), a T-Hg(II)-T link is formed dues to the highly affinity between T and Hg(II). Hence, fluorescence is restored. The assay has a linear response in the 1.0 to 10.0 nM Hg(II) concentration range, and a 0.65 nM detection limit. The method is selective and sensitive. It was applied to the analysis of spiked environmental water samples, and data agreed well with those obtained by atomic fluorescence spectrometry.

Strategy of a fluorescent probe for detecting Hg(II). The method has a 0.65 nM detection limit and is selective. MGO: magnetized graphene oxide, AHN: a fluorescent derivative of naphthalimide.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21507034, 51521006), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (2016A030310022), and the Pearl River S&T Nova Program of Guangzhou (201710010134).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science Engineering, Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Meng-Ke Li, Liu-Yin Hu, Cheng-Gang Niu & Guang-Ming Zeng

  2. South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection of PRC, Guangzhou, 510655, China

    Da-Wei Huang

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  1. Meng-Ke Li
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  2. Liu-Yin Hu
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Correspondence to Cheng-Gang Niu or Da-Wei Huang.

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Li, MK., Hu, LY., Niu, CG. et al. A fluorescent DNA based probe for Hg(II) based on thymine-Hg(II)-thymine interaction and enrichment via magnetized graphene oxide. Microchim Acta 185, 207 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-2689-6

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