Efficient and selective Cu2+detection for enhanced photoelectrochemical senor based on soluble melem unit couples with carbon nitride

Development of label-free photoelectrochemical sensor to detection of aquatic Cu2+ is of great significance for disease prevention and environment preservation. Reported herein is the rational construction of a facile strategy, combined with a hydrothermal exfoliation and subsequent assembly process, which obtain the soluble melem unit/g-C3N4 materials. This composite possesses porous structure and hydrophilic group (-OH), contributing to its great contact with aquatic solution and diffusion channel for target analytes. And abundant functional groups (-NHx) on the surface of soluble melem unit is capable of easily incorporating with aquatic Cu2+ to form the Cu-N bond, which was unveiled by experiential result of XPS spectra, providing tremendous potential for the application in Cu2+ detection. Consequently, a label-free photoelectrochemical sensor based on soluble melem unit/g-C3N4 exhibited a significant signal change due to the formation of Cu2+-induced surface exciton trapping, thus achieve the aquatic Cu2+ monitoring with low cost and high sensitivity.