A ratiometric sensor based on dual-emission carbon dots sensitive detection of amaranth

Amaranth (AMA), a common food additive, is important to strictly control the content of food for the human body. In this paper, an innovative method based on intrinsic dual-emissive carbon dots (Y/B-CDs) was used to detect AMA. Y/B-CDs have two emission wavelengths at 416 and 544 nm with the excitation wavelength at 362 nm. The addition of AMA can rapidly quench the fluorescence of the two peaks with different degrees, and ratiometric detection can be achieved. Quantitative analysis showed two linear ranges of 0.1–20 μM and 20–80 μM, and detection limits are 42 and 33 nM, respectively. Moreover, good results were obtained for the detection of AMA in beverages and candy using Y/B-CDs. This suggests that the constructed sensor has the potential to detect AMA in real samples.