Fluorimetric Mercury Test Strips with Suppressed “Coffee Stains” by a Bio-inspired Fabrication Strategy

A fluorimetric Hg2+ test strip has been developed using a lotus-inspired fabrication method for suppressing the "coffee stains" toward the uniform distribution of probe materials through creating a hydrophobic drying pattern for fast solvent evaporation. The test strips were first loaded with the model probes of fluorescent gold-silver nanoclusters and then dried in vacuum on the hydrophobic pattern. On the one hand, here, the hydrophobic constraining forces from the lotus surface-like pattern could control the exterior transport of dispersed nanoclusters on strips leading to the minimized "coffee stains". On the other hand, the vacuum-aided fast solvent evaporation could boost the interior Marangoni flow of probe materials on strips to expect the further improved probe distribution on strips. High aqueous stability and enhanced fluorescence of probes on test strips were realized by the hydrophilic treatment with amine-derivatized silicane. A test strips-based fluorimetry has thereby been developed for probing Hg2+ ions in wastewater, showing the detection performances comparable to the classic instrumental analysis ones. Such a facile and efficient fabrication route for the bio-inspired suppression of "coffee stains" on test strips may expand the scope of applications of test strips-based "point-of-care" analysis methods or detection devices in the biomedical and environmental fields.