Comparison of molecular sensors for mercury detection^a.

Material	Chemical probe	LOD	Reference
Quantum dots	CdS quantum dots	25.2 ng mL−1	Anal. Methods, 2016, 8, 6512–6519
	Nitrogen doped carbon dots	0.65 μM	New J. Chem., 2018, 42, 6824–6830
Organic molecules	Squaraine dye	1.3 × 10−7 M	Sens. Actuators, B, 2012, 173, 874–881
	Azobenzene	20 μM	Chem.–Eur. J., 2011, 17, 7276–7281
	Phenoxazinone	100 nM	J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2003, 125, 3418–3419
Biomolecules	DNA oligonucleotides	40 nM	Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2004, 43, 4300–4302
	DNA–Au nanoparticles conjugate	10 μM	J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 3244–3245
Nanoparticles	Gold nanoparticles	10 μM	J. Anal. Methods Chem., 2012, 2012
	Gold nanoparticles	100 nM	Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2007, 46, 4093–4096
Polymers	Polythiophene with thymine moiety	30 μM	Macromol. Rapid Commun., 2006, 27, 389–392
	Poly(3-(3′-N,N,N-triethylamino-1′-propyloxy)-4-methyl-2,5-thiophene hydrochloride)	42 nM	Adv. Mater., 2007, 19, 1471–1474

^aLOD = limit of detection.