title: A bright carbon-dot-based fluorescent probe for selective and sensitive detection of mercury ions.
abstract: In this work, we demonstrated a convenient and green strategy for the synthesis of bright and water-soluble carbon dots (CDs) by carbonizing sodium citrate and glutathione together in a hydrothermal method for the first time. Without post surface modification, the as-synthesized CDs display fluorescence quantum yield (QY) as high as 21.03% and show superior stability not only in concentrated salt solutions but also in neutral and alkaline media. The probe exhibits selective and sensitive recognition capability towards mercury ion (Hg2+) in aqueous solution. The fluorescence of CDs can be quenched by Hg2+through an effective electron energy transfer process. It displays a linear quenching effect toward mercury ion in the concentration range of 0-15μM with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.99. The limit of detection is determined to be 25nM at the signal to noise ratio of 3. These attractive merits would enable the extensive applications of this probe in environmental science and analytical chemistry in the future.
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical R&D of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China.
authors: Yanhong
authors: Y
authors: Ma
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical R&D of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China.
authors: Ziang
authors: Z
authors: Zhang
authors: College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors: Yueling
authors: Y
authors: Xu
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical R&D of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Ma
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical R&D of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China.
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Chen
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical R&D of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China. Electronic address: happywei2012@126.com.
authors: Lin
authors: L
authors: Wei
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical R&D of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China; College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: lehuixiao@163.com.
authors: Lehui
authors: L
authors: Xiao
keywords: Carbon dots; Fluorescence; Mercury ion detection; Optical sensing