Dual-emission color-controllable nanoparticle based molecular imprinting ratiometric fluorescence sensor for the visual detection of Brilliant Blue

Single-component dual-emission nanoparticles were synthesized by chelating the organic ligand 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) to the surface of CdTe/ZnS quantum dots, namely CdTe/ZnQ(2), and were used to construct a novel mesoporous structured molecular imprinting ratiometric fluorescence sensor by facile one-pot sol-gel polymerization for the visual detection of Brilliant Blue. The CdTe/ZnQ(2) had bimodal fluorescence belonging to CdTe and ZnQ(2) segments, respectively; significantly, the emission wavelength of CdTe was optimized to be 630 nm for the largest overlap with the absorption spectrum of Brilliant Blue. Consequently, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency was greatly enhanced, resulting in ideal determination. A favorable linearity toward Brilliant Blue was obtained within 0-1.0 mu mol.L-1 along with profuse color evolution from orange to yellowish orange to yellowish green to green, and a high detectability of 8.8 nmol.L-1 was offered. Excellent recognition selectivity for Brilliant Blue over possibly coexistent food colorants was demonstrated, with a high imprinting factor of 7.1. Furthermore, endogenous Brilliant Blue was detected ranging from 0.21 to 41.03 mg/kg in six typical food samples with relative standard deviations lower than 3.5%, and the results agreed well with that afforded by conventional methods. Using Brilliant Blue as a model, this dual-emission color-controllable nanoparticle based imprinting ratiometric fluorescence sensor provided promising perspectives for the highly selective and sensitive, rapid, visual detection of colored substances in complicated matrices.