Thioglycolic Acid Capped CdTe Quantum Dots as Sensors for the Detection of Hazardous Heavy Metal Ion Cu2+ in Water

Nowadays, the major concerns to human health are toxic heavy metal contamination. So, there has been an urgent requirement for trustworthy and quick methods for the detection of hazardous heavy metal ions in the water samples. Over the past two decades, Quantum dots (QDs) have been developed as sensitive sensors, due to their unique luminescence property. In the present work, we have developed a rapid, cheap and water-soluble thioglycolic acid (TGC) capped CdTe quantum dot (QD) sensor for the detection of Cu2+ hazardous heavy metal ions in water. By using one-step method, water-soluble TGC capped CdTe QDs have been prepared. TGC capped QDs were characterized by different spectroscopy techniques. Time and temperature dependency on the fluorescence response were observed. In the presence of Cu2+metal ions, a strong “Turn-Off” fluorescence response is detected. A strong 1:1 complexation (Cu2+: TGC capped CdTe QDs) between TGC capped CdTe QDs and metal ion were verified by the output of Benesi–Hildebrand relation and Job’s plot. Our findings suggested that TGC capped CdTe QD shows better response towards Cu2+ metal ions and can be used for the detection of Cu2+ metal ions in water medium.