J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2020, Vol. 38: 197-204.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2019.09.004

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Pesticide-induced photoluminescence quenching of ultra-small Eu3+-activated phosphate and vanadate nanoparticles

Periša Jovanaa, Antić Željkaa, Ma Chong-Gengb, Papan Jelenaa, Jovanović Draganaa, D.Dramićanin Miroslavab*()   

  1. aVinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
    bCollege of Sciences, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, China
  • Received:2019-06-06 Revised:2019-08-02 Accepted:2019-08-09 Published:2020-02-01 Online:2020-02-10
  • Contact: D.Dramićanin Miroslav

Abstract:

The aim of this research was to investigate the luminescent behavior of ultra-small Eu3+-activated phosphate and vanadate nanoparticles in the presence of pesticides. Nanoparticles have an average diameter of approximately 2 nm with a narrow size distribution. The monazite crystal structure of phosphate-based particles (space group P121/n1) and single tetragonal zircon-type structure of vanadate-based particles (space group of I41/amd) have been confirmed using X-ray diffraction measurements. All synthesized Eu3+-activated colloidal nanoparticles show sharp emission peaks in the red spectral region. Photoluminescence measurements revealed emission quenching upon addition of millimolar concentrations of following pesticides: 4-Chloro-2-methyl-phenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (Glyphosate). In both phosphate and vanadate-based colloidal nanoparticles luminescence quenching is more evident in the presence of 2,4-D pesticide with the lowest limit of detection (0.7 μM) obtained for phosphate-based nanoparticles.

Key words: Phosphate/vanadate based colloidal nanoparticles, Eu3+, Emission quenching, Pesticide