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Title Waste Polystyrene-derived Sulfonated Fluorescent Carbon Nanoparticles for Cation Sensing
ID_Doc 24275
Authors Teo, JYQ; Zheng, XT; Seng, DHL; Hui, HK; Chee, PL; Su, XD; Loh, XJ; Lim, JYC
Title Waste Polystyrene-derived Sulfonated Fluorescent Carbon Nanoparticles for Cation Sensing
Year 2022
Published Chemistryselect, 7, 36
DOI 10.1002/slct.202202720
Abstract Polystyrene, one of the most widely-produced plastics worldwide, is non-biodegradable and has unsustainable life-cycles with only a small fraction recycled presently. Hence, there is considerable effort underway to explore new methods to give post-consumer polystyrene waste a new lease-of-life as functional materials. In this study, we report the synthesis of the first polyanionic fluorescent carbon nanoparticles from sulfonated waste polystyrene food containers via an environmentally-benign route in water. By virtue of their sulfonate groups, these biocompatible and fluorescent nanoparticles show a number of distinct behaviours in the presence of different main group and transition metal cations. Al3+ brings about both fluorescence enhancement and nanoparticle precipitation, whilst fluorescence quenching was observed for paramagnetic and toxic transition metal cations, with Cu2+ eliciting the most sensitive fluorescence response (LoD=26 mu M). These fluorescence intensity perturbations are likely a consequence of direct metal cation coordination to the exposed sulfonate groups on the nanoparticles. Our findings suggest the potential of using post-synthetically modified waste plastics to produce a family of luminescent carbon materials for environmental sensing of these hazardous cations.
Author Keywords photoluminescence; waste plastic upcycling; valorisation; environmental monitoring; circular economy
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000855972200001
WoS Category Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Research Area Chemistry
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