DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v28i3.203

Keywords: Fluorescent nanoprobes, toxic pollutants, heavy metal detection, carbon dots, Quantum dots, environmental sensing

Abstract

Rapid and selective detection systems of intensive and toxic pollutants like heavy metal ions, pesticides, and organic materials have been prepared due to the increasing presence of these pollutants in environmental systems. Conventional methods of analysis though accurate, are usually using complex instruments, costly and time consuming. Over the recent years, fluorescent nanoprobes have become effective sensing platforms because of their distinct optical characteristics such as, high level of fluorescence, tunable emission, good photostability, and surface functionalisation. This mini review identifies the recent developments in the different kinds of fluorescent nanoprobes, including quantum dots, carbon dots, metal nanoclusters, and dye-functionalized nanomaterials, their synthesis, the strategies to functionalize them, and the detection mechanisms of these fluorescent nanoprobes, including the processes of fluorescence quenching, fluorescence enhancement, and energy transfer. Also, their uses in the selective detection of toxic contaminants, especially heavy metals, pesticides, and organic contaminants are discussed. Even though it has made a substantial advance, issues of stability, selectivity in complex matrices, and scalability are still present and the direction of the research in the future is the creation of environmentally friendly, mobile, and extremely selective sensing systems.