Donor-Acceptor Structure-Dependent Electrochemiluminescence Sensor for Accurate Uranium Detection in Drinking Water

As is known to all, uranium is regarded as an important hazardous element in drinking water and extremely limited by the World Health Organization. To realize the accurate monitoring of uranyl in drinking water, an efficient strategy for designing an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor with a low ECL potential as well as high sensitivity and selectivity is reported in this work. In detail, a donor-acceptor type structure is built in polymer dots (Pdots) to obtain a low ECL potential and long-wavelength absorbance waves to give a resonance energy transfer process from uranyl to Pdots, which is beneficial for developing a uranyl ECL sensor with high sensitivity and selectivity. The obtained Pdots are modified with ssDNA chains to be prepared into a uranyl sensor, which gives a quite low limit of detection of 6.4 ng/L as well as excellent selectivity. Furthermore, an accurate determination is then realized in practical tap water samples. This work provides a novel strategy for designing efficient ECL sensors for trace uranyl ion monitoring in drinking water, indicating its significance in environmental and public security fields.