Fabrication of Water-soluble Fluorescent Polymeric Micelles for Selective Detection of Hg in Blood Serum.

In this study, amphiphilic diblock copolymers were designed and synthesized via the incorporation of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer radical polymerization (RAFT) and a subsequent grafting technique. Subsequently, Hg-sensitive water-soluble fluorescent polymeric micelles (FNs) were prepared by a reprecipitation strategy. The spectroscopic characteristics demonstrate that the fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was successfully linked into the polymer. Due to the promoted reaction of desulfurization cyclization by Hg, the fluorescence of fluorescein in FNs was obviously quenched. The as-prepared FNs showed admirable Hg-sensitivity (detection limit: 54 nM), excellent water-solubility and high selectivity. In addition, FNs were successfully used to determine Hg in blood serum. We expected that the as-prepared FNs could perform potential applications in imaging, sensing, and bioanalytic chemistry.