Tunable photoluminescence studies based on blue-emissive carbon dots and sequential determination of Fe(III) and pyrophosphate ions

Aiwen Yu; Yiping Tang; Kai Li; Jinwei Gao; Yuhui Zheng; Zhi Zeng

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2019.117231

Tunable photoluminescence studies based on blue-emissive carbon dots and sequential determination of Fe(III) and pyrophosphate ions

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2019 Nov 5:222:117231. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2019.117231. Epub 2019 Jun 2.

Authors

Aiwen Yu¹, Yiping Tang², Kai Li¹, Jinwei Gao³, Yuhui Zheng⁴, Zhi Zeng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
² College of Material Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, PR China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center For Transparent Conductive Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: yhzheng78@scnu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: zhizeng@scnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 31177000
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2019.117231

Abstract

Fluorescence has been well documented and the optical feature of carbon dots generates considerable interests. Here the nitrogen-doped carbon dots with a relative quantum yield of 25% have been prepared. It displays stable blue emission based on the excitation at 355 nm. The carbon nanomaterial is highly dispersible in aqueous solution and can be employed as an effective optical probe for label-free detection of Fe³⁺ (0.87 μM) via a switched off change. Additionally, such sensing nanoplatform can be recovered in the presence of pyrophosphate (PPi) and an "off-on" process has been identified. It is expected that this on-off-on strategy will allow new possibilities for developing efficient sensors in industrial fields.

Keywords: Carbon dot; Luminescence; Pyrophosphate; Sensor.