In this work, we first report a thermo-responsive photoluminescent polymer brushes device as a platform
for the selective and sensitive detection of Cr(VI). Positively charged fluorescent molecules of a quaternary
ammonium tetraphenylethylene derivative (d-TPE) are immobilized in the thermo-responsive polymer
brushes of p(NIPAM-co-AAc) by Coulombic force, which leads to the observation of an immobilized
induced emission (IIE) phenomenon. The emission intensity of the d-TPE labelled film is improved
hundreds of times compared with a d-TPE aqueous solution. As a result, we obtain a novel thermoresponsive
polymer brushes device with excellent photoluminescent properties. The photoluminescence
(PL) intensity of the device exhibits a linear and reversible response from 4 to 60 C and shows a high PL
quenching for the sensitive and selective detection of Cr(VI) rather than Cr(III). The limit of detection can
reach as low as 0.05 ppm, which indicates a promising sensor device for environmental monitoring,
laboratory analysis and various other applications.
