title: Facile Synthesis of N-Doped Carbon Dots as a New Matrix for Detection of Hydroxy-Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Negative-Ion Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.
abstract: N-doping carbon dots (N-CDs) were prepared by microwave-assisted pyrolysis of dl-malic acid and ethanolamine as precursors. The material served as an excellent matrix for the detection of the environmental pollutants hydroxy-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) in negative ion mode. The obtained N-CDs exhibited good UV absorption capacity and favorable solubility. The use of the N-CDs matrix exhibited low matrix background interference and was beneficial to improve the signal response due to the specific π-conjugated polyaromatic structure and the doping of nitrogen atoms. The developed method was found to have good reproducibility and sensitivity. The N-CDs as a new matrix also were employed for the detection of OH-PAHs in real PM2.5 samples. The mass concentrations of Σ-hydroxy-pyrene, Σ-dihydroxy-anthraquinone, and Σ-dihydroxy-benzo(a)pyrene on the collected PM2.5 samples ranged from 0.125 to 0.136 ng/m(3), 0.039 to 0.052 ng/m(3), and 0.053 to 0.072 ng/m(3), respectively. This work extends the application field of N-CDs and provides a good candidate of matrix for MALDI-TOF MS detection of environmental pollutants.
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: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Ruijin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
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.
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.|Partner State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University , 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
authors.forename: Zongwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: MALDI-TOF MS; carbon dots; hydroxy-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; matrix; nitrogen-doped