Natural product-derived carbon dots: Applications as a fluorescent probe for detecting Ciprofloxacin and as an antimicrobial agent

In this work, a green and economical strategy to prepare carbon dots (E-CDs) based on Embryonic chrysanthemums was carried out. The prepared difunctional E-CDs showed high water-solubility and favorable photostability. The morphology and surface functional groups were analyzed by TEM, FT-IR, and XPS. Moreover, E-CDs possessed effective antibacterial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of E-CDs against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus are 0.93 mg/mL and 0.78 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, E-CDs are used as a fluorescent probe with a limit of detection of 0.101 μM (3σ/k) for ciprofloxacin and a linear range of 0–1.0 μM. Consequently, this work discovered a new, green, economical carbon dot with the potential application as a potent antibacterial agent and an effective fluorescent sensor of ciprofloxacin.