Carbon dots with high brightness and stability towards efficient Cr(VI) and l-arginine sensors

• Published in: Microchemical journal 2024-12, Vol.207, p.112092, Article 112092
• Main Authors: Hao, Xuanqi, Zhang, Xiao, Wang, Jianrong, Liu, Chenchen, Li, Chuanhao, Yang, Ping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon dots; Cr (Ⅵ); L-arginine; Photoluminescence; Sensor
• ISSN: 0026-265X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2024.112092

[Display omitted] •Blue-emitting carbon dots (CDs) were prepared via a solvothermal synthesis for Cr (VI) and l-arginine detection.•S doping resulted in the CDs with green-emitting and high photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of 84 %.•These bright CDs revealed great potential for the detection of Cr(Ⅵ) and l-arginine. To create fluorescent sensors for Cr (VI) and l-arginine detection, blue-emitting carbon dots (CDs, named as M-CDs) were prepared via a solvothermal synthesis by using m-phenylenediamine. The introduction of sulfuric acid changed the blue-emitting of CDs into green-emitting (named as S-CDs), in which the photoluminescence (PL) peak wavelengths of samples M-CDs and S-CDs were 450 and 540 nm, while their PL efficiencies were 21.7 and 84.2 % respectively. Sulfuric acid resulted in the average fluorescent lifetime of the CDs was prolonged into 8.19 from 4.65 ns. The photo and thermal stable tests demonstrated that theses CDs revealed excellent stability. Meanwhile, CDs flexible films with bright blue- and green-emitting were prepared utilizing the favorable solubility of CDs in polar solvents. Mono-dispersed CDs as luminescent materials demonstrated it promising prospects in luminescent devices field. Furthermore, M-CDs exhibited excellent selectivity towards Cr(VI) and l-arginine. The detected limit (0.86 μM for Cr(VI) and 0.43 μM for l-arginine) was determined by assessing the response of M-CDs to various concentrations of Cr(VI) ion and l-arginine solutions. These bright CDs revealed great potential for accurate detection of Cr(VI) and l-arginine.