Rapid and accurate detection of phosphate in complex biological fluids based on highly improved antenna sensitization of lanthanide luminescence

Rapid and accurate detection of phosphate (Pi) in complex biological fluid is of critical importance for timely warning of Pi accumulation and monitoring Pi related pathological process. Up to date, various luminescent probes have been developed for Pi determination in aqueous media. However, the huge obstacles of the current probes suffer from the inherent issues such as time-consuming, tedious preparation and unavoidable background interference during Pi detection. To circumvent this limitation, we proposed a universal and facile strategy to fabricate a novel sensitizer-Ln(3+)@surfactant micelle probe with time-resolved luminescent (TRL) superiority through the self-assembly of sensitizer, Ln(3+) and surfactant. Through this design, the sensitizer-Ln(3+) chelate can be encapsulated into the surfactant constructed micelle and Ln(3+) luminescence can be substantially lighted up through the effective energy transfer from the coordinated sensitizer and the assistance of Triton X-100. Such high TRL signal can be sensitively and specifically quenched by Pi, which was attributed to the specific coordination competition between sensitizer and Pi towards Ln(3+). Benefitting from the background-free interference and highly sensitive TRL response of the sensitizer-Ln(3+)@surfactant probe, we achieved the rapid, selective and sensitive detection of Pi in the range of 0.5-120 mu M with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.19 mu M. Furthermore, the accuracy of the proposed method based on the Ln(3+) involved micelle probes was further verified through the quantitation of Pi in real biological samples.