Physicochemically modulated fluorescence-scattering ratiometric sensor for selective and visual detection of levodopa.

In this study, a facile fluorescence-scattering ratiometric sensor was designed for visual and selective detection of levodopa (LD) via a clever physicochemical modulation scheme. The alkalized products of LD can rapidly react with polyethyleneimine (PEI) to exhibit an intense blue fluorescence and decrease the second-order scattering (SOS) signal of PEI. As the concentration of LD increased, the fluorescence intensity at 420 nm increased and the SOS intensity at 675 nm decreased synchronously. Thus the fluorescence-scattering ratiometric sensor was constructed by virtue of the two simultaneously changed signals. Furthermore, red light-emitting Au nanoclusters (AuNCs) were added into the above mixture solution to enlarge the SOS signal and provide a stable red background fluorescence. The intensity ratio of fluorescence to SOS (F/(S/Sblank)) is linear dependent on CLD in the wide range of 50.0---30000.0 nM, and LD as low as 50.0 nM can be identified with the naked eye via change of fluorescence color. The developed ratiometric sensor is smart, simple and efficient, and has been applied to the convenient assay of LD in real samples. The proposed physicochemical modulation strategy provides a new and facile path for selectively and visually identifying the target from its analogues.

Temperature-dependent electronic structure of γ-phase CuI: first-principles insights.

To deepen the understanding of CuI that emerges as a promising next-generation transparent display material, we investigate the temperature effect on the electronic structures of its room-temperature phase γ-CuI. Using density-functional-theory-based approaches, we investigate the bandgap renormalization, which is contributed by the electron-phonon (el-ph) interaction and lattice thermal expansion. Different from most semiconductors, the bandgap widens as temperature increases, although it only widens by 88.3 meV from 0 to 600 K. In addition, based on the temperature-dependent band structure and conventional Drude model, we investigate the influences of the effective masses and evaluate the hole mobilities limited by phonon scattering along different directions. The calculated mobilities agree well with existing experimental values. Our study not only provides a fundamental understanding of the temperature effect on the electronic structure of CuI, but also gives insights for further improvement of the electronic and thermoelectric devices based on CuI.