Direct colorimetric detection of copper(II) ions in sampling using diffusive gradients in thin-films

In-situ sampling of chlorophenols in industrial wastewater using diffusive gradients in thin films technique based on mesoporous carbon

In-situ sampling of 2-chlorophenol (CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) in industrial wastewater was carried out by the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) device based on mesoporous carbon (MC). The diffusion coefficients of CP ((1.33 ± 0.05) × 10^-6 cm² s^-1), DCP((1.35 ± 0.04) × 10^-6 cm² s^-1) and TCP((1.09 ± 0.07) × 10^-6 cm² s^-1)) in nylon membrane at 25 °C were independent of pH 3-9 and ionic strength as pNaCl from 0.155 to 3, and were less than their values in water, demonstrating that the nylon membrane with good tolerance and constant diffusion coefficients was suitable as the DGT diffusion layer for controlling the diffusion of CPs. MC-DGT accurately measured the concentrations of CP, DCP and TCP in synthetic solution (C_DGT/C_SOLN = 0.956-1.04) over the deployment of 120 h. The experimental data also agreed well with the theoretical data calculated on the DGT equation. The performance of MC-DGT for sampling CPs was independent of pH (3-8) and ionic strength as pNaCl (1.3-3) due to the change of the interaction between MC and CPs under relatively high pH and ionic strength. Deployments in laboratory and field trials demonstrated that the MC-DGT was a reliable simple, robust and accurate tool for the in-situ sampling of CP, DCP and TCP in the industrial wastewater.

Novel Colorimetric Method for Simultaneous Detection and Identification of Multimetal Ions in Water: Sensitivity, Selectivity, and Recognition Mechanism

Accurate recognition and speciation analysis of heavy-metal ions in complex hydrological environments is always a serious challenge. In this work, we proposed a small-molecule-based ultrasensitive colorimetric detection strategy and successfully applied it to the accurate detection of Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, and Hg²⁺ in groundwater through the specific recognition of multiple ligands of different metal ions. The detection limits for Hg²⁺, Co²⁺, Fe²⁺, and Fe³⁺ are calculated to be 6.51, 0.34, 0.49, and 1.01 ppb, respectively, which are far below the drinking water standards and superior to most of the reported colorimetric sensors. Remarkably, the speciation analysis of Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ also has been successfully realized by a one-step method without complex pretreatment. The speciation and concentration of Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ in actual water samples can be accurately identified and monitored. In addition, as an attempt of visual onsite detection, we have developed a simple test strip, which has been applied to visual monitoring of four metal ions with the detection limit estimated by the naked eye to be as low as ppb level. This proposed colorimetric method realizes the rapid, sensitive, and portable multiple metal ions recognition and Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ speciation analysis, displaying great potential for onsite rapid water quality analysis.

Use of polymer-bound Schiff base as a new liquid binding agent of diffusive gradients in thin-films for the measurement of labile Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Pb²⁺

A new diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) device with solution of polymer-bound Schiff base (Py-PEI) derived from poly(ethyleneimine) and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde as the binding agent (Py-PEI DGT) was developed for measuring labile Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) in waters. In synthetic solution, uptake percentages of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) by Py-PEI DGT were 99.2 ± 4.4%, 103.7 ± 4.8% and 98.7 ± 5.5% of the total metals, respectively. Performance of Py-PEI DGT was independent of pH 4-8.5 and ionic strength 1 × 10(-4)-0.1 mol L(-1). The uptake of labile metals showed agreement with the theoretical values of free ions in EDTA solution, and decreased with increase of humic acid (HA) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contents in water due to the complexation of HA and DOC with metals. DGT devices containing different liquid binding agents (Py-PEI, polyacrylate (PA) and poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS)) were deployed in the same solution. The higher uptake percentages of Py-PEI DGT (13.2 ± 1.1, 26.5 ± 2.4 and 62.7 ± 3.2% of total Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+)) were obtained with respective to PSS DGT (6.7 ± 0.6, 9.2 ± 0.9 and 29.6 ± 2.7% of total above metals) and PA DGT (8.9 ± 0.9 and 16.2 ± 1.1% of total Cu(2+) and Cd(2+)) due to its relatively strong binding affinity with metals.