A Selective Fluorescence Sensor for Pretreatment-free Detection of Practical Formaldehyde Reagents

Abstract

Formaldehyde (FA) is an important chemical due to its reactivity and versatility. The concentration of formaldehyde reagents is the key index of production and trade. The development of optical sensors for the detection of formaldehyde reagents has hardly been reported. This paper presents the design and principle of a novel optical sensor, naphthalimide (Nap)-FA, for formaldehyde (about 13 mol/L) detection without pretreatment. Nap-FA reveals low fluorescence in aqueous environment and wide pH range. Upon the addition of FA, the fluorescence intensity of Nap-FA increased rapidly, with a response time of less than 10 min. Nap-FA demonstrates a linear fluorescence response to FA in the wide range of 0.01–13.76 mol/L with high selectivity in the presence of common impurities and formaldehyde polymerization inhibitor. Compared to standard methods, Nap-FA can be used as a fast and reliable tool for detecting formaldehyde reagents.

Keywords

Formaldehyde / Formaldehyde reagent / Sensor / Fluorescence detection / Pretreatment-free / Chemical

References

[1] https://mcgroup.co.uk/researches/formaldehyde, accessed on 2025-09-19.

[2] Fabian E, Emre T, Jorg S. Catal. Sci. Technol.. 2023, 132349.

[3] Hilman I M, Nurfadhila N R. Mol. Catal.. 2023, 537112944

[4] Mariia M, Sara D, Busser G W. J. Catal.. 2023, 427115111.

[5] Graeme J M, Orcid M C. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.. 2017, 569247.

[6] International Organization for Standardization. Reagents for Chemical Analysis—Part 3: Specifications—Second Series. 1987ISO 6353-3:1987

[7] Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China. Chemical Reagent-formaldehyde Solution. 2013GB/T 685-2013

[8] Xu X X, Yang E P, Chen Y Y. Cri. Rev. Anal. Chem.. 2022, 541146.

[9] Huang S M, Li Z J. Chem. Commun.. 2022, 581442.

[10] Swagata P, Subhadip R, Neha C. Sci. Technol. Adv. Mat.. 2022, 2349.

[11] Feng L, Christopher J M, Kenneth S S. J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2010, 1324046.

[12] Zang L, Liu R C, Michael W H. J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2002, 12410640.

[13] Uchangi S A, Praveena B. Biosens. Bioelectron.. 2018, 100201.

[14] Liao C L, Zhang M, Tian Q Y. Sensor. Acyuat. B-Chem.. 2023, 37513286

[15] Martinez A, Ana M C, Salvador G. Nanomaterials. 2019, 9320.

[16] Zuo Y N, Zhao X E, Xia Y H. Microchimica Acta. 2022, 19036.

[17] Tang Y H, Kong X Q, Xu A. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.. 2016, 553356.

[18] Li J F, Ding D H, Wang J Y. Chem. Eng. J.. 2022, 44813763434

[19] Cao T, Gong D Y, Han S C. Talanta. 2018, 189274.

[20] He L W, Yang X L, Ren M G. Chem. Commun.. 2016, 529582.

[21] Thomas F B, Christopher J C. J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2015, 13710886.

[22] Zhao X J, Ji C D, Ma L. ACS Sens.. 2018, 32112.

[23] Cao T, Ma H. RSC Adv.. 2022, 1218093.

[24] Zhang D, Liu D M, Li M. Anal. Chimica Acta. 2018, 1033180.

[25] Aaron R, Li H. J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2015, 13710890.

[26] He L W, Yang X L, Liu Y. Chem. Commun.. 2016, 524029.

[27] Dong B L, Song X Z, Tang Y H. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 2016, 222325.

[28] Gu J P, Li X Q, Zhou G F. J. Hazard. Mater.. 2020, 386121883.

[29] Yuan G Q, Ding H Y, Peng L P. Food Chemistry. 2020, 33127221.

[30] Sheng W L, Zhang X, Yu M H. Analyst. 2021, 1467554.

[31] Yun H L, Tang Y H, Peter V. Chem. Commun.. 2016, 5211247.

[32] Chen P Y, Zhang G Y, Li J G, Ma L J. Chem. Res. Chinese Universities. 2024, 40293.

[33] Qiao Q L. Structure-Fluorescence Relationship of Naphthalimide Fluorophore and Applications in Biology. 2017, Dalian, Dalian University of Technology

[34] Jiang W C, Qiao Q L, Chen J. Adv. Sci.. 2024, 112309743.

[35] Dong M, Wang D Z, Yang J R. Smart Molecules. 2023, 120230011.

[36] Lu T, Chen F W. J. Comput. Chem.. 2012, 33580.

[37] Lu T. J. Chem. Phys.. 2024, 16142

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Jilin University, The Editorial Department of Chemical Research in Chinese Universities and Springer-Verlag GmbH