s A Systematic Review on Fluorescent and Colorimetric Chemosensors for Ion Recognition

The development of fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors for selective recognition and sensing of cations has received significant attention in recent decades attributed to their diverse applications in the area of environmental and biological sciences. Chemosensors for the detection of different ions offer advantages, such as high selectivity, sensitivity, low cost and rapid response time with versatility. Therefore, a large number of fluorescent/colorimetric chemosensors have been reported for the detection of biologically and environmentally important species. This review introduces the history, provides a general overview of the recent advances in the developments of fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors, and discusses some innovative and representative works done by our research group and researchers in the field of chemosensors for target metal ions, such as Al³⁺, Fe³⁺, Cu²⁺, Ag⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Sn²⁺ over 7 years’ period, from 2013 to 2020.