Recent advances in polymeric chemosensors for the detection and removal of mercury ions in complex aqueous media

Abstract

Polymeric chemosensors have gained a considerable amount of interest for toxic metal ion tracing and removal owing to their numerous advantages, including high water solubility, remarkable structural stability, high sensitivity, good selectivity, simple processability, quantitative separation capability, sensing tunability, and applicability in real-time device fabrication. Mercury (Hg), a heavy metal ion, is hazardous to humans and aquatic life when present in excess of permissible levels. The incorporation of a limited number of suitable Hg (II)-specific binding units into a sensing polymer backbone’s side/main chain can provide good signaling output and separation capability. This review summarizes studies on recent advances in various polymeric chemosensors and their applications in Hg(II) sensing and separation published between 2011 and 2021. The limitations and challenges of the current systems are outlined, along with the future prospects for various research directions in this area.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Polymeric chemosensor
• colorimetric
• mercury ion
• removal

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of Ulsan Research Fund of 2022.

Notes on contributors

Rini Sharma

Rini Sharma received her B.Sc. degree (2018) in Chemistry from West Bengal State University, India. Then she moved to Department of Chemistry, University of Ulsan in South Korea in 2018 for pursuing Intregated PhD. Her field of research interest mainly involves synthesis and development of new synthetic novel stimuli-responsive polymers and chemosensors for detection and removal of toxic cations, anions and biomolecules.

Hyung-il Lee

Prof. Hyung-il Lee received his BS and MS degree in Industrial Chemistry from Hanyang University in South Korea in 1998 and 2000, respectively. He received a PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Kris Matyjaszewski from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007-2009). He then joined the Department of Chemistry at Ulsan University in South Korea in 2009, and now he is a professor of chemistry. His current research interests are focused on the synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymers for sensing, removal and bio-related applications.