title: Comparative study for N and S doped carbon dots: Synthesis, characterization and applications for Fe(3+) probe and cellular imaging.
abstract: A facile and eco-friendly approach to prepare nitrogen(N)- and sulfur(S)-doped carbon dots (CDs) by one step microwave-assisted pyrolysis of the precursors with dl-malic acid as carbon source, ethanolamine and ethane-sulfonic acid as N and S dopants, respectively, was reported. Through the extensive investigation on morphology, chemical structures and optical properties of the carbon dots, it was found that the obtained CDs exhibited good luminescence stability, high resistance to photo bleaching and favorite solubility. Compared with undoped CDs, adding the N or S dopant could give rise to a slightly smaller particle size and a long fluorescence lifetime of CDs. Moreover, the optimal N-CDs was successfully employed as good multicolor cell imaging probes due to its fine dispersion in water, excitation-dependent emission, excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity. Besides, such N-CDs showed a wide detection range and excellent accuracy as fluorescent probe for Fe(3+) ions. This probe enabled the selective detection of Fe(3+) ions with a linear range of 6.0-200 μM and a limit of detection of 0.80 μM.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Shaomin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shuang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. Electronic address: dc@sxu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dong
keywords: Cellular imaging; Doped carbon dots; Fe(3+) probe