Synthesis and characterization of rhodamine immobilized on mesoporous silica SBA-15 as metal ions chemosensor

Abstract

Development of chemosensor is essential for detection metals ions in the environment qualitatively and quantitatively. This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of chemosensor based SBA-15 which is rhodamine immobilized SBA-15. SBA-15 is mesoporous silica that having excellent support for constructing fluorescent surface sensor with uniform hexagonal pore was first synthesized followed functionalize by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). Before attaching rhodamine onto SBA-15, rhodamine hydrazine was prepare and with the help of glutaraldehyde (GLU) as bridging agent, rhodamine was immobilized with SBA-15 silica. The synthesis of SBA-15 silica was successfully synthesized that prove by analysis of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) that showed it has uniform hexagonal pore and supported by high surface area from nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis  showed the highest BET surface area with pore size of 5.25 nm. The attachment of APTES. GLU, rhodamine hydrazine and rhodamine hydrazine onto SBA-15 were proven by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that there is fluorescence properties for rhodamine immobilized SBA-15 by the result of emission wavelength at 540nm which is same with rhodamine hydrazine emission wavelength alone. Thus, from the results it showed that the rhodamine immobilized SBA-15 has potential solid chemosensor for detecting metal ion.