Conjugated polymer based fluorescent probes for metal ions

• Published in: Coordination chemistry reviews 2021-04, Vol.433, p.213745, Article 213745
• Main Authors: Pak, Yen Leng, Wang, Yuting, Xu, Qingling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conjugated polymer; Fluorescent probes; Metal ions detection
• ISSN: 0010-8545; 1873-3840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2020.213745

•It covers a list of 127 probes for metal ions recognition from 2011 to 2020.•The coverage is based on different metal ions and structures of probes are proposed.•Attach significance to the photophysical properties and detailed discussion of sensing mechanism.•The perspectives and insights of the research area are discussed. Metal ions perform significant functions in organisms, while metal pollution does harm to the environment and ultimately affects human health. As a result, the metal ions sensing and monitoring techniques have been the research hotspot in the past decades. Among the different sensing techniques, fluorescent probes utilizing conjugated polymers (CPs) have advantages on metal ions detection, such as high sensitivity, high selectivity and low cost. This work contains a summary of studies about conjugated polymer based sensors towards various metal ions that have been carried out in the last 10 years. Moreover, we put forward some private opinions and outlooks into how this area is developing, and significant challenges to be surmounted.