Surface segregation of rigid polyarylene ether amidoxime on polyurethane nanofiber into hierarchical membranes as substrate of flexible SERS nanosensor for sulfamethoxazole detection.

Electrospun polymeric nanofibrous membranes are emerging as the promising substrates for preparation of flexible SERS nanosensors due to their intrinsic nanoscale surface roughness, easy scalability as well as rich surface reactivity. Although the nanofiber membranes prepared from high performance thermoplastics exhibit good mechanical stability, the SERS nanosensors based on these substrates normally have lower signal-to-noise ratio because of the interference from background Raman signals of aromatic moieties. Herein, we synthesized an optically transparent polyurethane (PU) and rigid polyarylene ether amidoxime (PEA), which were electrospun into core-shell nanofibers membranes with a "beads-on-web" morphology.

Recyclable adsorption removal and fluorescent monitoring of hexavalent chromium by electrospun nanofibers membrane derived from Tb coordinating polyarylene ether amidoxime.

Emerging technologies or advanced materials which can simultaneously adsorb and detect highly toxic Cr(VI) are urgently in demand for environmental remediation. Herein, we have designed and synthesized a functional polyarylene ether with aromatic main chain and pendent carboxyl groups along with amidoxime group that can be coordinated with different metal ions. Thanks to its versatile activation of the lanthanide ions' inherent fluorescence and good processability, the fluorescent nanofiber membranes with competitive Cr(VI) adsorption and detection performance have been fabricated via one-step electrospinning of mixed solution containing synthesized polymer and terbium salt.

Sub-micron microparticles with tunable fluorescence emission obtained via co-self-assembly of amidoximed polymeric ligands and lanthanide ions.

Lanthanide coordinating polymeric microparticles have witnessed increasing research interests during the past decades due to their versatile morphology and tunable fluorescent properties. Herein, we have synthesized an amidoximed block copolymer containing aromatic backbone and pendent amidoxime as well as carboxyl groups, which has been employed as the ligand to sensitize the intrinsic fluorescence emission of lanthanide ions of Tb and Eu. Furthermore, the lanthanide coordinating polymeric microparticles showing tunable green and red emission fluorescence have been prepared via the emulsion confinement co-self-assembly of amidoximed polymeric ligands with Tb and Eu.

Scalable fabrication of silver covered polyurethane nanofibers as flexible SERS nanosensors for aflatoxin detection.

Flexible surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) nanosensors, constructed by integration of plasmonic nanostructures with polymeric substrates, have received increasing research interests for recent decades. When compared to abundant works on optimization of the plasmonic nanostructures, the research involving the influence of polymeric substrates on analytical performance of resultant flexible SESR nanosensors is unexpectedly limited. Herein, the ultra-thin silver layer has been deposited on the electrospun polyurethane (ePU) nanofibrous membranes via vacuum evaporation to prepare the flexible SRES nanosensors.