Issue 2, 2019

Carbon nanospheres with dual-color emission and their application in ratiometric pyrophosphate sensing

Abstract

Herein, we employ pH-dependent solubility equilibrium to develop the one-pot aqueous synthesis of dual-color emission fluorescent carbon nanosphere (DFCSs) with novel physicochemical properties. Unexpectedly, some of the DFCSs have a regular nanosphere shape, containing uniform carbon dots (∼20 nm) on their surface. This may be attributed to the change in the surface composition of the carbon nanospheres under the strong alkaline conditions (pH 13), which results in dual-wavelength emission by single-wavelength excitation. Interestingly, the fluorescence intensities of the two emission peaks of the DFCSs at 315/410 nm can be simultaneously quenched upon the addition of Co2+ due to the strong coordination between Co2+ and the O-containing luminescent groups from the carbon dots and DFCSs. Also, the results demonstrate that one Co2+ simultaneously combines with two chromophoric groups. Furthermore, the quenched DFCSs exhibit high sensitivity for pyrophosphate (PPi) in the range of 0.075–200.0 μM through a fluorescence recovery process, which can be attributed to the stronger Co2+–O[double bond, length as m-dash]P bond. This results in the removal of Co2+ from the surface of DFCSs–Co2+ system via competitive adsorption interactions. Meanwhile, this sensor shows high selectivity for PPi over mercapto amino acid and phosphate in aqueous solution. These results indicate the DFCSs can act as a dual-signal PPi-selective sensor via a ratiometric competitive mechanism.

Graphical abstract: Carbon nanospheres with dual-color emission and their application in ratiometric pyrophosphate sensing

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 ذو الحجة 1439
Accepted
18 صفر 1440
First published
20 صفر 1440

Analyst, 2019,144, 550-558

Carbon nanospheres with dual-color emission and their application in ratiometric pyrophosphate sensing

Z. Wang, Y. Gao, X. Yu, F. Kong, W. Wang, W. Lv and W. Wang, Analyst, 2019, 144, 550 DOI: 10.1039/C8AN01676C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements