Novel pyrazine Schiff-base derivative functionalized water-soluble polymer as a highly selective fluorescent chemosensor for Al3+ ions in pure aqueous solution

A novel water-soluble polymer P1 functionalized with pyrazine Schiff-base derivative was successfully synthesized. As an efficient “turn-on” fluorescent chemosensor , P1 showed high selectivity and anti-interference ability for the detection of Al 3+ ions in pure aqueous solutions. The detection limit of P1 for Al 3+ ions was as low as 3.68 × 10 −8  M. P1 displayed good detectability for Al 3+ ions over a wide pH range of 5–10. The detection of Al 3+ ions by P1 has been proven to have excellent reversibility by alternately adding Al 3+ ions and EDTA to P1 aqueous solution. Furthermore, P1 could be applied to quantitative determination of Al 3+ ions in real water samples. P1-based test strips were also facilely prepared for convenient on-site qualitative detection of Al 3+ ions in realistic aqueous samples.