Chemiluminescence of CdTe nanocrystals catalyzed by sodium hexametaphosphate and its sensitive application for determination of estrogens

A novel flow injection nanocrystals (NCs) chemiluminescence (CL) analysis method has been established for the determination of estradiol, estriol and estrone based on the enhancement of CdTe NCs–KMnO 4 CL reaction catalyzed by sodium hexametaphosphate. Glutathione (GSH)-capped CdTe nanocrystals were synthesized in aqueous medium, and the CdTe NCs emitted at around 555   nm was selected as the light emitter in CdTe NCs–KMnO 4 chemiluminescence (CL) system. It has been found that sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) enhanced the CL of the CdTe NCs–KMnO 4 system and estrogens increased these CL signals again in near neutral solution. UV–visible spectra, photoluminescence (PL) spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and CL spectra were used to characterize CdTe nanoparticles and investigate the mechanism of the CL reaction. On the basis of the enhancement, a novel flow-injection CL method has been established for the determination of estrogens. Under the optimum experimental conditions, three linear relationships were obtained. The method described is simple, sensitive, and has been successfully utilized for the determination of estrogens in tap water samples.