Hectorite/Phenanthroline-Based Nanomaterial as Fluorescent Sensor for Zn Ion Detection: A Theoretical and Experimental Study Massaro, Marina Borrego Sánchez, Ana Viseras Iborra, César Antonio Cinà, Giuseppe García Villén, Fátima Liotta, Leonarda F. López-Galindo, Alberto Pimentel, Carlos Sainz Díaz, Claro Ignacio Sánchez Espejo, Rita Riela, Serena Hectorite Phenanthroline Fluorescent sensor The development of fluorescent materials that can act as sensors for the determination of metal ions in biological fluids is important since they show, among others, high sensitivity and specificity. However, most of the molecules that are used for these purposes possess a very low solubility in aqueous media, and, thus, it is necessary to adopt some derivation strategies. Clay minerals, for example, hectorite, as natural materials, are biocompatible and available in large amounts at a very low cost that have been extensively used as carrier systems for the delivery of different hydrophobic species. In the present work, we report the synthesis and characterization of a hectorite/phenanthroline nanomaterial as a potential fluorescent sensor for Zn ion detection in water. The interaction of phenanthroline with the Ht interlaminar space was thoroughly investigated, via both theoretical and experimental studies (i.e., thermogravimetry, FT-IR, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies and XRD measurements), while its morphology was imaged by scanning electron microscopy. Afterwards, the possibility to use it as sensor for the detection of Zn2+ ions, in comparison to other metal ions, was investigated through fluorescent measurements, and the stability of the solid Ht/Phe/Zn complex was assessed by different experimental and theoretical measurements. 2024-07-23T09:03:51Z 2024-07-23T09:03:51Z 2024-05-19 journal article Massaro, M. et. al. Nanomaterials 2024, 14, 880. [https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14100880] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/93380 10.3390/nano14100880 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI