Determination of dopamine in human serum based on green-emitting fluorescence carbon dots

Through facile and straightforward hydrothermal treatment of quercetin, green-emitting carbon dots (g-CDs) were synthesized. The as-prepared g-CDs exhibited good water solubility and stability. Moreover, the strong fluorescence of obtained g-CDs at 535 nm could be quenched by dopamine (DA), which was proven to be effective in detecting DA ranging from 2.0 to 40.0 μM with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.52 μM. Additionally, the g-CDs further showed its feasibility for DA determination in human serum with satisfactory recoveries (95.58%–106.87%), indicating that the g-CDs can be used as a promising tool for the detection of DA in human serum.