UV Cured Polymeric Optical Fluorescence Sensor for the Determination of Au (III) Soner Çubuk,* Ece Kök Yetimo glu, M. Vezir Kahraman, Sibel Kenan Summary: The recognition and sensing of the biologically and environmentally important metal ions has emerged as a significant goal in the field of chemical sensors in recent years. Among the various analytical methods, fluorescence has been a powerful tool due to its simplicity, high detection limit and application to bio imaging.In this study, UV cured polymeric optical sensor for Au (III) ion based on a fluorescence membrane has been developed. The response characteristics of the sensor including dynamic range, pH effect and response time were systematically investigated. The influences of the conditions such as pH, response time on the metal ion binding capacity of membrane were also tested. Keywords: Au (III); fluorescence spectroscopy; membrane; optical sensor; UV-curing Introduction Noble metals, especially gold, are widely used in jewelry, catalysts, fuel cells and dental materials. However, contamination of water systems and soil may occur due to frequent use of these substances. Hence, it is crucial to develop highly sensitive and selective gold analysis methods in environ- mental and industrial waste waters. [1] There are several analytical techniques have been adopted to analysis of trace amounts of gold such as atomic absorption spectrometry, electrochemical, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrom- etry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and various spectrophoto- metric methods using complexing reagents including acid-bas indicators. However, these methods have certain disadvantages; they are time consuming, expensive and suffer from several matrix effects. [2–4] The sensitivity and selectivity of the analysis method could be greatly enhanced by using fluorescent and chemilumiscent probes. Fluorescent chemical sensors, employing a fluorophore or a fluorescent species as read-out functions, have been frequently used in environmental monitor- ing, medical diagnosis and forensic analysis. Therefore, the high sensitivity, ease of data collection, and the wide range of target molecules make fluorescent chemical sen- sors highly desirable in the development of sensing systems. [5] In our study a spectrofluorimetric meth- od for the determination of Au (III) in aqueous samples based on photosynthe- sized polymeric membrane was developed for the first time and analytical parameters have been determined. Experimental Part Materials and Reagents The commercial monomers trimethylolpro- pane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) (3–SH), hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), 2,4,6- triallyloxy-1,3,5-triazine (TAT) and the photoinitiator, 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylace- tophenone (DMPA) were purchased from Sigma. Atomic absorption spectrophotom- etry standard solution of 1000 mg L 1 Au (III) was purchased from Merck. All the other chemicals such as buffer components were of analytical grade and used without further purification. Faculty of Art and Sci., Chemistry Dept., Marmara University, 34722 _ Istanbul, Turkey E-mail: sonercubuk@marmara.edu.tr Macromol. Symp. 2014, 339, 33–37 DOI: 10.1002/masy.201300135 | 33 ß 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim wileyonlinelibrary.com