Fluorescent heavy metal cation sensing with water dispersible 2MPA capped CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

Here we report the fluorescence response of water dispersible CdSe/ZnS core–shell quantum dots capped with 2-mercaptopropionic acid (2MPA) towards different concentrations of heavy metal cations, namely mercury, lead and cadmium. Upon exposure to different concentrations of the various metal cations, a concentration-dependent decrease in the QDs' fluorescence emission was observed, which was decaying exponential in nature. The greatest degree of quenching was achieved in the presence of mercury. The resultant quantum dots were subsequently characterised by UV–vis spectroscopy, photo-luminescent spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The quantitative detection of mercury, lead and cadmium cations by these capped quantum dots makes them exciting candidates for heavy metal sensing applications