High-bright fluorescent carbon dot as versatile sensing platform

Mumei Han; Liping Wang; Siheng Li; Liang Bai; Yunjie Zhou; Yue Sun; Hui Huang; Hao Li; Yang Liu; Zhenhui Kang

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.067

High-bright fluorescent carbon dot as versatile sensing platform

Talanta. 2017 Nov 1:174:265-273. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.067. Epub 2017 May 31.

Authors

Mumei Han¹, Liping Wang¹, Siheng Li², Liang Bai¹, Yunjie Zhou¹, Yue Sun¹, Hui Huang³, Hao Li⁴, Yang Liu⁵, Zhenhui Kang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
³ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: hhuang0618@suda.edu.cn.
⁴ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: lihao000000@163.com.
⁵ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: yangl@suda.edu.cn.
⁶ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: zhkang@suda.edu.cn.

PMID: 28738577
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.067

Abstract

The surface functionalization will introduce additional functional groups on carbon dots (CDs) surface and then enrich the properties of CDs. Here, we show the various surface functionalized CDs (-COOH, -OH, -SH, -NH₂, etc, named as NS-CDs) were synthesized with fascinating features, including high quantum efficiency (38.9%), long-term stability and good biocompatibility. Notably, it can serve as multifunction fluorescent probe in sensing system, including label-free detections in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) with a wide linear range (1.20 × 10^-3 - 8.80 × 10^-12M) and a low limit of detection (LOD, 1.00 × 10^-12M); and glutathione, covering a concentration range of 2.00 × 10^-3 - 1.00 × 10^-7M and LOD of 1.00 × 10^-7M. In addition, the NS-CDs as fluorescent probe could selectively detect metal ions (such as, Hg²⁺, 1.00 × 10^-8 - 1.50 × 10^-3M, 1.00 × 10^-7M), antibiotics (tetracycline, 1.00 ×10^-10 - 2.50 × 10^-5M, 1.00 ×10^-10M) and toxic pollutant (nitrobenzene, 5.00 × 10^-7 to 1.00 × 10^-3gL^-1, 5.00 × 10^-7gL^-1) with wide linear range and satisfactory detection limits.

Keywords: Carbon dots; Fluorescent probe; Surface functionalization; Versatile sensing.