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A highly selective colorimetric sensor for Hg2+ based on a copper (II) complex of thiosemicarbazone in aqueous solutions

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Abstract

By applying an indirect strategy, a new copper (II) complex of a thiosemicarbazone L has been successfully developed as a colorimetric chemosensor for the sensitive detection of mercury (II) ions. In the presence of copper (II) ions, the colorless solution of L became yellow; however, upon the addition of traces of mercury (II) ions, the yellow color faded to colorless immediately. Other ions, including Fe3+, Ag+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Cr3+ and Mg2+ had a negligible influence on the probe behavior. The detection limits were 5.0×10−6 M and 3.0×10−7 M of Hg2+ using the visual color changes and UV-vis changes respectively. Test strips based on Cu-L were fabricated, which could act as a convenient and efficient Hg2+ test kits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Eco-Environment-Related Polymer Materials, Ministry of Education of China; Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials of Gansu Province; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    TaiBao Wei, JunJian Li, CuiBing Bai, Qi Lin, Hong Yao, YongQiang Xie & YouMing Zhang

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  1. TaiBao Wei
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  2. JunJian Li
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  3. CuiBing Bai
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  4. Qi Lin
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  5. Hong Yao
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  6. YongQiang Xie
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  7. YouMing Zhang
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Correspondence to TaiBao Wei or YouMing Zhang.

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Wei, T., Li, J., Bai, C. et al. A highly selective colorimetric sensor for Hg2+ based on a copper (II) complex of thiosemicarbazone in aqueous solutions. Sci. China Chem. 56, 923–927 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4863-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4863-3

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