Trace analysis of uranyl ion (UO22+) in aqueous solution by fluorescence turn-on detection via aggregation induced emission enhancement effect

• A fluorescence turn-on method for trace amounts of UO22+ has been developed.
• The method was based on aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) mechanism.
• The AIEE was linearly related to 1–25 ppb UO22+, with LOD of 0.2 ppb.
• The method could be utilized in quantifying UO22+ in fuel processing wastewaters.

A sensitive fluorescence turn-on method for trace amounts of uranyl ion (UO22+) in solution has been developed in this study, based on aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) characteristics of 4-pethoxycarboxyl salicylaldehyde azine (PCSA) induced by complex interaction between UO22+ and PCSA. Under optimized conditions, a fluorescence enhancement at 540 nm could be observed, which was linearly related to the concentration of UO22+ in the range of 1–25 ppb (part per billion). Analytical data showed that a detection limit of 0.2 ppb was achieved with the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) 1.3% (n = 5). The proposed method was successfully utilized in quantifying UO22+ in fuel processing wastewaters.

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