Carbon dots (CDs) are of great significance for metal ion detection. Herein, CDs without surface functional groups were synthesized through a simple one-step hydrothermal method using 4,4'-bipyridine as the carbon source. The results showed that the synthesized CDs have good selectivity for Fe 3+ detection, and the CDs respond well to metal ions as Lewis bases. This detection method is unlikely to be affected by sewage systems because it has excellent sensitivity. The detection range for Fe 3+ concentrations is between 1.0 × 10 –8 and 1.0 × 10 2 mol/L, and the detection limit is 1.0 × 10 –8 mol/L.
Hangzhen Zhang,Jiafan Bai,Xiangli Chen,Linyu Wang,Wenzhen Peng,Yuancong Zhao,Jie Weng,Wei Zhi,Jianxin Wang
Carbon dots have shown a broad application prospect in the fields of sensing and detection, biological imaging, and optoelectronic devices. However, it is still challenging to adopt a simple and green synthesis route and to develop new precursor systems to prepare full-color luminescent carbon dots. This study proposes a mechanism for fine regulation of carbon dot fluorescence spectra based on surface states of C N, C O C, and O H, among which C N play a major role in long wavelength emission while C O C and O H are responsible for the blue shift of emission wavelength. Using 4,4-bipyridine and p-phenylenediamine as precursors in safe and environmentally friendly glycol and water as solvents for the first time, the fine spectral carbon dots with full spectrum luminescence from purple (441 nm) to red (627 nm) were successfully synthesized by simply changing the composition of the reaction solvent and using a short reaction time. Compared with other reports on regulating polychromatic carbon dots, our method is more refined and has a wider distribution of luminescent colors. In addition, the obtained carbon dots based on such surface state luminescence mechanism have shown good application prospects in specific detection of Fe 3+ and cell labeling.