Fluorescent Porous Carbazole‐Decorated Copolymer Monodisperse Microspheres: Facile synthesis, Selective and Recyclable Detection of Iron (III) in Aqueous Medium

Abstract

We demonstrate an environmentally friendly one-step soap-free emulsion polymerization strategy to develop fluorescent carbazole-based copolymer monodisperse microspheres for highly sensitive and selective detection of Fe³⁺ . The copolymer microspheres feature a stable spherical morphology with a narrow size distribution through regulating N-vinylcarbazole (NVCz) content (1.25-10.0 wt.%). Notably, the as-made microspheres exhibit a strong luminescence, tunable emission intensity and specific surface areas. Interestingly, the fluorescence of the copolymer microspheres can be selectively quenched by trace amounts of Fe³⁺ due to the oxidation of carbazole, and the quenching fluorescence can be facilely recovered by reduction with NaBH₄ . Its excellent sensing performance is shown in terms of high sensitivity (low limit of detection, 1.3 μm), excellent selectivity, and rapid response rate, due to the porous nature of the copolymer microspheres. These results illustrate the copolymer microspheres obtained by simple preparative procedure without using expensive or toxic raw materials would serve as a high performance sensor for highly selective and recyclable detection of Fe³⁺ in aqueous medium.