Drinking water is frequently disinfected with chlorine, and it is necessary to quantify any remaining chlorine in the form of the hypochlorite ion (ClO-). Many sensors are in use now, including colorimetric, fluorometric, and electrochemical ones, but detection limitations and simplicity of application continue to be a problem. This study discusses the findings of two novel ClO- sensors based on solvent-free microwave synthesis. The two sensors display rapid fluorescence response for ClO- with excellent selectivity over other analyte species as well as a low detection limit.

According to fluorometric performance, the sensors have low detection limits of 1.71 nM and 2.46 nM for sensors I and II, respectively, and they can detect ClO- unaffected by other dangerous water pollutants. For the detection of ClO- in real water samples, the approach produced good recovery results, ranging from 98 to 102.1%. These sensors offer a straightforward and useful approach for tracking ClO- levels in the water, as well as a low-cost and highly sensitive detection method. The sensing mechanism is explained in terms of the radical cations that are produced when the cyanine sensors I and II are exposed to ClO-.