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Colloidal silica beads modified with quantum dots and zinc (II) tetraphenylporphyrin for colorimetric sensing of ammonia

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Abstract

Colloidal crystal beads (CCBs) were fabricated by assembling monodisperse silica nanoparticles via a microfluidic device. The pore size of the CCBs was tuned by using different nanoparticles. The CCBs were then coated with cadmium telluride quantum dots and zinc(II) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin for the purpose of optical sensing. Ammonia causes the color of the sensor to change from green to red. The method has a dynamic range of 0–2500 ppm, good reversibility, and is not sensitive to humidity. The limit of detection is 7 ppm. The sensor has the advantage of a porous microcarrier structure and that pore sizes can be well controlled and thus can fulfill various demands in gas detection.

Figure SEM images of colloidal silica beads with different modified CCBs for colorimetric sensing of ammonia.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NSFC (Grant No. 21103020, 50925309) and the Suzhou Science and Technology Department (Grant No. SYG201209, SH201110).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, People’s Republic of China

    Hua Xu, Maochun Zhang, Haibo Ding & Zhuoying Xie

  2. Suzhou Key Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of China

    Hua Xu

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  1. Hua Xu
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  2. Maochun Zhang
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  4. Zhuoying Xie
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Correspondence to Hua Xu.

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Xu, H., Zhang, M., Ding, H. et al. Colloidal silica beads modified with quantum dots and zinc (II) tetraphenylporphyrin for colorimetric sensing of ammonia. Microchim Acta 180, 85–91 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-012-0914-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-012-0914-2

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