The behaviors of metal ions in the CdTe quantum dots–H 2 O 2 chemiluminescence reaction and its sensing application

The behaviors of 15 kinds of metal ions in the thiol‐capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs)–H 2 O 2 chemiluminescence (CL) reaction were investigated in detail. The results showed that Ag + , Cu 2+ and Hg 2+ could inhibit CdTe QDs and H 2 O 2 CL reaction. A novel CL method for the selective determination of Ag + , Cu 2+ and Hg 2+ was developed, based on their inhibition of the reaction of CdTe QDs and H 2 O 2 . Under the optimal conditions, good linear relationships were realized between the CL intensity and the logarithm of concentrations of Ag + , Cu 2+ and Hg 2+ . The linear ranges were from 2.0 × 10 −6 to 5.0 × 10 −8 mol L −1 for Ag + , from 5.0 × 10 −6 to 7.0 × 10 −8 mol L −1 for Cu 2+ and from 2.0 × 10 −5 to 1.0 × 10 −7 mol L −1 for Hg 2+ , respectively. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) were 3.0 × 10 −8 , 4.0 × 10 −8 and 6.7 × 10 −8 mol L −1 for Ag + , Cu 2+ and Hg 2+ , respectively. A possible mechanism for the inhibition of CdTe QDs and H 2 O 2 CL reaction was also discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.