Determination of acrylamide in food products based on the fluorescence enhancement induced by distance increase between functionalized carbon quantum dots

Acrylamide (AM), as one of the by-products produced by the Maillard reaction, has received increasing attention due to the potential risk of side effects in humans and other animals. In this study, a simple method was developed for AM quantitation by utilizing the fluorescence enhancement induced by the distance increase between functionalized carbon quantum dots modified by N-acryloxysuccinimide (NAS-CQDs) induced by AM polymerization. This fluorescent sensing approach allowed for detecting AM in a double-distilled water system in the range between 5 × 10 −3 and 1 × 10 −6  M with a low detection limit of 2.6 × 10 −7  M. Furthermore, a novel method for the pretreatment of white bread crust samples was developed based on QuECHERS method (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe), and detecting range between 5 × 10 −4 and 5 × 10 −6  M, low detection limit of 8.1 × 10 −7  M, and satisfactory recoveries of 99.13–103.7% in spiked white bread crust samples were obtained by the present method, confirming its good applicability for AM determination in real food products.