Heavy metals are the most hazardous water pollutants, with severe health and environmental consequences. Among these, mercuric (Hg²⁺) ions are known to cause detrimental health issues in both humans and aquatic life. Due to this, several analytical techniques have been devised to detect and quantify the amount of this ion. However, most of these require advanced instrumentation, prolonged analysis time, and sample preparation. In this study, a low-cost and highly reusable colorimetric probe was developed by grafting porphyrin to poly(ethylene terephthalate) sheets using an oxazoline polymer as covalent adhesive. Upon exposure to trace amounts of Hg²⁺ in solution, the fabricated material visually transitioned from faint brownish pink to green by the complexation mechanism. Additionally, the transparency of this probe allowed the quantitative spectrophotometric determination of the Hg²⁺ concentration in aqueous samples. It was also shown that the material is highly stable, which can be reused for more than 50 times without significant decline in its performance, hence, making it suitable for the onsite monitoring of mercuric ion contamination in different bodies of water.

中文翻译：

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卟啉接枝聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯作为可重复使用的高选择性比色探针，用于检测水样中的汞离子污染物


重金属是最危险的水污染物，会对健康和环境造成严重后果。其中，汞 (Hg ²⁺ ) 离子已知会对人类和水生生物造成有害的健康问题。因此，已经设计了几种分析技术来检测和量化该离子的量。然而，其中大多数需要先进的仪器、延长的分析时间和样品制备。在这项研究中，通过使用恶唑啉聚合物作为共价粘合剂将卟啉接枝到聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯片上，开发了一种低成本且高度可重复使用的比色探针。当暴露于溶液中的痕量汞 ²⁺ 时，所制造的材料通过络合机制在视觉上从淡棕粉色转变为绿色。此外，该探针的透明度允许定量分光光度法测定水样中的 Hg ²⁺ 浓度。研究结果还表明，该材料稳定性高，可重复使用50次以上，性能不会明显下降，适合不同水体中汞离子污染的现场监测。