A fluorescent probe of CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ perovskite quantum dots on polystyrene nanofibres for the detection of copper ions

Recently, metal halide perovskite quantum dots (MHPQDs) have attracted considerable interest in sensing activities due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and high surface activity. Here, aiming for heavy metal detection, we proposed an ultrasensitive turn-off fluorescent probe based on MAPbBr(3) MHPQDs for the measurement of copper ions in an organic solvent. A low limit of detection (LOD) of 5.6nM was achieved and the test range was recorded from 0nM to 100nM. In order to achieve this high sensitivity, a thin film layer of electrospun polystyrene(PS) nanofibre was introduced for the structural support of MHPQDs, by which the sensitivity increased two orders of magnitude. The quenching mechanism is also discussed in the paper. We believe the electron transfer effect between Cu2+ and perovskite QDs made the main contribution for turn off sensing in our prototype device.