Issue 10, 2015

One-pot synthesis of carbon nanodots for fluorescence turn-on detection of Ag+ based on the Ag+-induced enhancement of fluorescence

Abstract

Carbon quantum dots (C-dots) are promising fluorescence probes for applications in metal ion detection, biosensing and bioimaging and so on. In this study, water soluble carbon nanodots were synthesized through a simple one-step heat treatment of ethylene glycol solution. In the present preparation, the C-dots may be formed through the hydration, crosslinking and carbonization processes. The synthesized C-dots show a green luminescent emission under ultraviolet excitation, which can be used for the detection of Ag+ ions. Interestingly, in a different way to the usual quenching effects of metal ions on the fluorescence of C-dots, Ag+ exhibited an enhancement effect on the photoluminescence of C-dots, which can be attributed to the reduction of Ag+ to silver nanoclusters (Ag0) on the surface of the C-dots. Based on the linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and concentration of Ag+ ions, the prepared C-dots can be used for sensitive and selective detection of silver ions in environmental water with a limit of detection of 320 nM and a linear range of 0–90 μM.

Graphical abstract: One-pot synthesis of carbon nanodots for fluorescence turn-on detection of Ag+ based on the Ag+-induced enhancement of fluorescence

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Nov 2014
Accepted
16 Jan 2015
First published
20 Jan 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 2302-2309

Author version available

One-pot synthesis of carbon nanodots for fluorescence turn-on detection of Ag+ based on the Ag+-induced enhancement of fluorescence

X. Gao, Y. Lu, R. Zhang, S. He, J. Ju, M. Liu, L. Li and W. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 2302 DOI: 10.1039/C4TC02582B

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