Luminescent properties of N-salicylidene-3-aminopyridine and selective sensing behavior to Ba2+

Development of a selective and sensitive sensor for Ba2+ is currently of great importance because of the adverse effects of Ba2+ on the human body. In this study, we developed an excellent fluorescence chemosensor for Ba2+ based on 3AP (N-salicylidene-3-aminopyridine). A fluorescence spectrophotometer is utilized to investigate the sensing properties of 3AP, and the results indicate that 3AP shows sensitive and selective detection of Ba2+ through the enhancement of fluorescence intensity. The detection limit is determined to be 7.08×10−7 mol/L. Background metal ions, such as Li+, Na+, K+, Cs+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, Al3+ and Ag+, exhibit small or no interference with the detection of Ba2+.