Potential of a novel binuclear Ni (II) single crystal to act as a luminescent platform for sensing Cd2+ - Crystal structure, spectroscopic and sensing studies

In this work, a binuclear Ni(II) complex (A) involving suberic acid (UA) and 2-methyl imidazole (MI) has been crystallized using slow evaporation technique. The six coordinated Ni(II) structure was solved by SXRD characterization and the results from UV, FT-IR, NMR, TG-DTA, SEM-EDX techniques are also presented. An effective quenching phenomenon from photoluminescence experiments revealed the capability of A to act as a sensor towards Cd2+ ions. Further, investigation on the interference of cations, effect of anions and concentration were explored to ensure the applicability of sensor in practical environment. The limit of detection, quenching efficacy and the binding nature of A with Cd2+ were confirmed using SV plot and Job’s plot. The results derived from the sensing experiments concluded the excellent potency of A to act as a “turn-off” sensor towards Cd2+.