The H2S detection based on the combined smartphone technology and cellulose composite film and its application in biological imaging

•A novel H2S fluorescent probe based on a biomass flavonoid backbone was prepared.•Detecting H2S in real water samples by smartphone technology.•Fluorescent probe/cellulose based composite film was prepared to achieve real-time detection of H2S. In this study, flavonoids were used as fluorophores and dinitrobenzenesulfonyl groups as recognition groups. A novel fluorescent probe, LBS-XY, with high sensitivity and selectivity for H2S was prepared by nucleophilic addition and nucleophilic substitution reactions. The LBS-XY enables rapid detection of H2S within 150 s with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.041 μM. With the interference of other ions (or molecules), only H2S was able to cause the probe to fluoresce in a green color visible to the naked eye. The probe can be used to realize the detection of H2S in real water samples by smartphone technology, and the fluorescent composite film prepared from the probe also achieved satisfactory results. In addition, the probe was successfully used to image hydrogen sulfide in A549 cells. The results demonstrate the potential of probe LBS-XY for applications in multiple fields. [Display omitted]