A water‐stable luminescent sensor based on Cd2+ coordination polymer for detecting nitroimidazole antibiotics in water

Abstract Effective detection of antibiotics is essential for human health and environmental protection. A new type of water‐stable fluorescent sensor was synthesized and characterized. The antibiotics in the water were detected by fluorescence spectroscopy. The complex presents excellent fluorescence quenching effect on nitroimidazole antibiotics with high selectivity and sensitivity and shows lower limits of detection with a wider linear range. The limit of detection (LOD) of the complex are 0.46 nM for ornidazole (ODZ), 0.73 nM for dimetridazole (DTZ), and 0.46 nM for metronidazole (MDZ). The K sv values are calculated to be 1.11 × 10 4 M −1 for ODZ, 0.70 × 10 4 M −1 for DTZ, and 1.10 × 10 4 M −1 for MDZ. In addition, the sensor is recyclable and is expected to be used in the detection of nitroimidazole antibiotics in water. The luminescence quenching of Cd 2+ complex towards nitroimidazole antibiotics ascribed to the combination of electron transfer and energy transfer.