Issue 3, 2021

Nitrogen-doped carbon dots for sensitive detection of ferric ions and monohydrogen phosphate by the naked eye and imaging in living cells

Abstract

Nitrogen doped carbon dots (N-CDs) have been prepared via a one-pot hydrothermal method by using formamide and o-phenylenediamine as the carbon precursors. The as-fabricated N-CDs display excellent water dispersibility, good biocompatibility and anti-photobleaching properties. A strong emission band with an emission maximum (λflmax) of 556 nm is observed under 450 nm excitation, and a large Stokes shift of 106 nm is presented. However, the fluorescence is quenched by the addition of Fe3+; a good linearity is shown in the range of 0–65 μM with a detection limit as low as 0.85 μM. Fortunately, the quenched fluorescence could be recovered rapidly by the addition of monohydrogen phosphate (HPO42−) due to the formation of the stable [N-CDs–Fe3+–HPO42−] complex, and a good linearity is exhibited in the range of 0–60 μM with a low detection limit of 0.80 μM for HPO42−. A novel “on–off–on” fluorescence response is seen with an obvious color change from yellow-crimson-yellow by the naked eye. In addition, the confocal microscopy images suggest that the as-synthesized N-CDs could serve as a sensitive nanosensor for Fe3+ and HPO42− detection, implying the diverse potential application of N-CDs in the biomedical field.

Graphical abstract: Nitrogen-doped carbon dots for sensitive detection of ferric ions and monohydrogen phosphate by the naked eye and imaging in living cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 sep. 2020
Accepted
03 dic. 2020
First published
10 dic. 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale Adv., 2021,3, 805-811

Nitrogen-doped carbon dots for sensitive detection of ferric ions and monohydrogen phosphate by the naked eye and imaging in living cells

Q. Liu, B. Ren, K. Xie, Y. Yan, R. Liu, S. Lv, Q. He, B. Yang and L. Li, Nanoscale Adv., 2021, 3, 805 DOI: 10.1039/D0NA00769B

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