Internal dual-emissive carbon dots for the double-signal detection of procainamide

Abstract

We fabricated internal dual-emission carbon dots (CDs) using a facile hydrothermal treatment of eosin Y and ethylenediamine (EDA). Y-CDs exhibited distinct double peaks at 384 and 520 nm upon 320 nm excitation. The fluorescence (FL) intensities of double emissions gradually decreased along with the increase in the concentration of procainamide (PA). Since the fluorescence alteration could be monitored, Y-CDs were employed as an efficient platform for the FL sensing of PA over the linear ranges for double emissions from 4 to 18 μM and 20 to 400 μM, with a detection limit of 0.9 μM. The satisfactory accuracy and reliability in practical applications were investigated for the sensitive detection of PA in unqualified cosmetics, which took advantage of the inner filter effect (IFE) between Y-CDs and PA.