Issue 94, 2014

Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots-based fluorescent probe for the sensitive turn-on detection of glutathione and its cellular imaging

Abstract

In this paper, highly blue-luminescent nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) are synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal treatment of citric acid and dicyandiamide. A quantum yield (QY) as high as 32.4% is achieved at an excitation wavelength of 350 nm. It is found that such N-GQDs with a high QY can be used as efficient fluorescent probes for the detection of glutathione (GSH). In the detection, the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the N-GQDs could be quenched by mercuric ions due to the strong electrostatic interaction and electron transfer between N-GQDs and Hg(II). Upon the addition of GSH, the PL intensity of N-GQDs can be recovered owing to the preferred combination of Hg(II) and GSH by forming a Hg(II)–S bond. Under optimal conditions, this fluorescence turn-on sensing system exhibits excellent sensitivity and selectivity for GSH determination with a detection limit of 87 nM. Importantly, the N-GQDs–Hg(II) system can be successfully applied for visualizing the intracellular GSH in live HeLa cells due to bright luminescence, low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility.

Graphical abstract: Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots-based fluorescent probe for the sensitive turn-on detection of glutathione and its cellular imaging

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Sep 2014
Accepted
15 Okt 2014
First published
16 Okt 2014

RSC Adv., 2014,4, 52583-52589

Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots-based fluorescent probe for the sensitive turn-on detection of glutathione and its cellular imaging

J. Ju, R. Zhang, S. He and W. Chen, RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 52583 DOI: 10.1039/C4RA10601F

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