title: Ratiometric luminescent detection of bacterial spores with terbium chelated semiconducting polymer dots.
abstract: We report a ratiometric fluorescent sensor based on semiconducting polymer dots chelated with terbium ions to detect bacterial spores in aqueous solution. Fluorescent polyfluorene (PFO) dots serve as a scaffold to coordinate with lanthanide ions that can be sensitized by calcium dipicolinate (CaDPA), an important biomarker of bacterial spores. The absorption band of PFO dots extends to deep UV region, allowing both the reference and the sensitizer can be excited with a single wavelength (~275 nm). The fluorescence of PFO remains constant as a reference, while the Tb(3+) ions exhibit enhanced luminescence upon binding with DPA. The sharp fluorescence peaks of β-phase PFO dots and the narrow-band emissions of Tb(3+) ions enable ratiometric and sensitive CaDPA detection with a linear response over nanomolar concentration and a detection limit of ~0.2 nM. The Pdots based sensor also show excellent selectivity to CaDPA over other aromatic ligands. Our results indicate that the Tb(3+) chelated Pdots sensor is promising for sensitive and rapid detection of bacterial spores.
authors: State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University , Changchun, Jilin 130012, China.
authors: Qiong
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Sun
authors: Kaiwen
authors: K
authors: Chang
authors: Jiangbo
authors: J
authors: Yu
authors: Daniel T
authors: DT
authors: Chiu
authors: Changfeng
authors: C
authors: Wu
authors: Weiping
authors: W
authors: Qin
mesh_terms: D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000737:chemistry; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D005449:Fluorenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D049449:Luminescence; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010848:Picolinic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D012666:Semiconductors; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D013725:Terbium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D005449:Fluorenes; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010848:Picolinic Acids; C542782:poly(9,9-di-n-octyl-2,7-fluorene); D013725:Terbium; D002118:Calcium; C004860:dipicolinic acid