Green preparation of carbon quantum dots with wolfberry as on-off-on nanosensors for the detection of Fe3+ and l-ascorbic acid

Lin Gu; Jingru Zhang; Guangxin Yang; Yunyu Tang; Xuan Zhang; Xuanyun Huang; Wenlei Zhai; Essy Kouadio Fodjo; Cong Kong

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131898

Green preparation of carbon quantum dots with wolfberry as on-off-on nanosensors for the detection of Fe³⁺ and l-ascorbic acid

Food Chem. 2021 Dec 20:376:131898. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131898. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lin Gu¹, Jingru Zhang¹, Guangxin Yang², Yunyu Tang³, Xuan Zhang³, Xuanyun Huang³, Wenlei Zhai⁴, Essy Kouadio Fodjo⁵, Cong Kong⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200090, PR China; East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai 200090, PR China.
² East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai 200090, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai 200090, PR China.
⁴ Beijing Research Center for Agricultural Standards and Testing, No. 9 Middle Road of Shuguanghuayuan, Haidian District, Beijing 100097, PR China.
⁵ Physical Chemistry Laboratory, UFR SSMT, Université Felix Houphouet Boigny, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Cote d'Ivoire.
⁶ East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai 200090, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34968914
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131898

Abstract

A green and facile hydrothermal synthesis approach is proposed for the preparation of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) with wolfberry. These N-CQDs were developed as a highly sensitive fluorescent 'on-off-on' switch sensor for the sensing of Fe³⁺ and l-ascorbic acid (AA). The N-CQDs displayed superior fluorescence characteristics of CQDs with a quantum yield up to 22%. The N-CQDs were demonstrated to selectively react with Fe³⁺, leading to fluorescence quenching effect, which was successfully used for the detection of Fe³⁺ with a limit of detection at 3 μmoL•L^-1. The addition of AA is supposed to repair the surface defects, and result in the fluorescence recovery. Based on this effect, the strategy of 'on-off-on' detection of AA was established with a limit of detection at 1.8 μmoL•L^-1. Furthermore, the practical application of the detection of Fe³⁺ lake water and AA in medical tablet was demonstrated, promising an effective and efficient 'on-off-on' nanosensor with low-cost, green synthesis for Fe³⁺ and AA detection.

Keywords: Carbon quantum dots; Ferrite; Fluorescence; Nanosensor; l-Ascorbic acid.