Highly selective and sensitive detection of catecholamines using NaLuGdF4:Yb3+/Er3+ upconversion nanoparticles decorated with metal ions

We developed a novel optical sensor for sensitive and selective detection of catecholamines based on upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) decorated with different metal ions (UCNP-Men+). 1,2-ethanedithiol was chosen as a surface additive to synthesize the NaLuGdF4:Yb3+/Er3+ UCNPs by one-step at 200 °C. The as-prepared UCNPs exhibited a strong emission under the continuous excitation at 980 nm. It was found that catecholamines could be more effectively detected in the presence of UCNP-Fe3+, whereas, dopamine and epinephrine were detected selectively using UCNP-Li+ and UCNP-Cu2+ sensors, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, the limit of detections (LODs) for catecholamines, dopamine, and epinephrine are 2.8, 2.5, and 2.4 nM, respectively, with good linearity in the range of 5–320 nM for total catecholamines and 5–30 nM for dopamine and epinephrine. The developed method has been successfully applied to detect dopamine and epinephrine in human urine samples with good accuracy and satisfactory recovery.