Preparation of Graphene oxide- CuInS2/ZnS Quantum dots Nanocomposite as "Turn-On" Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Aqueous Medium

Rodney Maluleke; Sundararajan Parani; Oluwatobi S Oluwafemi

doi:10.1007/s10895-021-02761-w

Preparation of Graphene oxide- CuInS₂/ZnS Quantum dots Nanocomposite as "Turn-On" Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Aqueous Medium

J Fluoresc. 2021 Sep;31(5):1297-1302. doi: 10.1007/s10895-021-02761-w. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Authors

Rodney Maluleke^{1

2}, Sundararajan Parani^{1

2}, Oluwatobi S Oluwafemi^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, P.O. Box 17011, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa.
² Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, P.O. Box 17011, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa.
³ Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, P.O. Box 17011, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa. oluwafemi.oluwatobi@gmail.com.
⁴ Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, P.O. Box 17011, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa. oluwafemi.oluwatobi@gmail.com.

PMID: 34101098
DOI: 10.1007/s10895-021-02761-w

Abstract

Graphene oxide is well known for its adsorption properties with aromatic compounds. In this study, graphene oxide and eco-friendly ternary CuInS₂/ZnS QDs were used to prepare graphene oxide-qunatum dots (GO-QDs) nanocomposite via in-situ method. The composite was characterized using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The effect of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the PL properties of the nanocomposite was investigated. The results showed that the addition of PAHs increased the PL intensity of the nanocomposite. This "turn-on" fluorescence approach can be used for the successful detection of PAHs in aqueous media.

Keywords: Fluorescence; Graphene oxide; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Quantum dots; Sensing.