Analytical Sciences

Sensitive Chemiluminescent Sensing Method for Mercury(II) Ions Based on Monolayer Molybdenum Disulfide

Hongli YANG, Yongxin HUANG, Yanjun ZHAO, and Aiping FAN

School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, PR China

A simple and sensitive chemiluminescent (CL) sensing platform for mercury(II) ions (Hg²⁺) in water was developed based on monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂). The layered MoS₂ can catalyze the oxidation of luminol by H₂O₂, producing an enhanced CL signal because of the peroxidase-like activity of the layered MoS₂. In addition, MoS₂ has a good adsorption ability to Hg²⁺ because of the inherent affinity of Hg²⁺ to sulfur contained in MoS₂. Interestingly, the pre-incubation of Hg²⁺ with layered MoS₂ inhibited the catalytic activity of MoS₂ on the luminol–H₂O₂–MoS₂ CL reaction, leading to CL quenching. The CL intensity decreased linearly with increasing concentration of Hg²⁺ from 0.005 – 40 μM. The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be 1 nM. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was found to be 3.71%, indicating good reproducibility. The recoveries of Hg²⁺ spiked in tap water were from 100.0 to 116.0% with RSD from 2.7 to 5.6%, detected by the standard addition method, and demonstrated good applicability.

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