Poly(aspartic acid) Electrospun Nanofiber Hydrogel Membrane-Based Reusable Colorimetric Sensor for Cu(II) and Fe(III) Detection

Caidan Zhang; Haidong Li; Qiaozhen Yu; Lin Jia; Lynn Yuqin Wan

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b02109

Poly(aspartic acid) Electrospun Nanofiber Hydrogel Membrane-Based Reusable Colorimetric Sensor for Cu(II) and Fe(III) Detection

ACS Omega. 2019 Aug 28;4(11):14633-14639. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b02109. eCollection 2019 Sep 10.

Authors

Caidan Zhang¹, Haidong Li¹, Qiaozhen Yu¹, Lin Jia², Lynn Yuqin Wan³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Yarn Materials Forming and Composite Processing Technology of Zhejiang Province, College of Materials and Textile Engineering, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, Zhejiang 314001, China.
² College of Textile, Henan University of Engineering, Zhengzhou, Henan 450007, China.
³ Advanced Fibrous Material Laboratory, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Abstract

Electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) with huge specific surface area is an ideal solid substrate for sensors. However, only a few ENMs are developed into colorimetric sensors and it is even more challenging to fabricate multiple-ion-responsive ENM-based colorimetric sensor. In this study, benefiting from the excellent metal ion adsorption ability of poly(aspartic acid) (PASP) and high specific surface area of nanofibers, a reusable colorimetric sensor utilizing PASP electrospun nanofiber hydrogel membrane (ENHM) was designed to detect Cu²⁺ and Fe³⁺ in aqueous solution with simple filtration. The sensor based on PASP-ENHM exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity, and colorimetric responses for Cu²⁺ and Fe³⁺ detection could be observed by the naked eye. Upon exposure to Cu²⁺ aqueous solution, the color of the sensor changed from white to blue with a naked eye detection limit of 0.3 mg/L, while it turned from white to yellow with a detection limit of 0.1 mg/L for Fe³⁺ detection. Furthermore, this sensor was reusable after metal ion extraction by the desorption process.