Chemiluminescence signal amplification for determination of tetrachlorobenzoquinone based on acidified tungsten disulfide quantum dots

As a representative intermediate in the migration and transformation of pentachlorophenol (PCP), tetrachlorobenzoquinone (TCBQ) is a carcinogenic halogenated quinone, which can threat human health. Chemiluminescence (CL) is a promising method in environmental analysis due to its high sensitivity, no background interference, and portable features. However, no CL platform for TCBQ determination was developed which may be owing to the weak CL intensity. Herein, a novel CL signal amplification strategy for tungsten disulfide quantum dots (WS2 QDs) via sulfuric acid (SA) activation was proposed. The sulfuric acid-activated WS2 QDs (SA-WS2 QDs) exposed more active sites (W4+) and their CL emission with Na2SO3 was 20 times stronger than that of untreated WS2 QDs. More importantly, the CL emission was significantly enhanced with the introduction of TCBQ through generating electronically excited carbonyl species (λem = 550 nm), and thus a sensitive and selective sensing method for TCBQ in practical water sample was established (linear range: 0.05–1 μM, the limit of detection: 2 nM). This study not only developed a simple, efficient, and sensitive method for TCBQ detection, but also proposed a green and feasible strategy to enhance the CL property of nanoparticles.