Orange emissive carbon dots for colorimetric and fluorescent sensing of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol by fluorescence conversion

In this study, infrequent orange carbon nanodots (CNDs) were applied as a dual-readout probe for the effective colorimetric and fluorescent detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). The orange fluorescence could be rapidly and selectively quenched by TNP, and the colorimetric response from the original pink color to blue could also be captured immediately by the naked eye. A limit of detection of 0.127 μM for TNP was estimated by the fluorescent method and 5 × 10−5 M by visualized detection. Interestingly, the fluorescence of the CNDs with TNP gradually transitioned from orange to green upon irradiation by a UV lamp, and the colorimetric response transitioned from pink to blue to colorless, which ensured effective multi-response detection of TNP. In addition, the CNDs exhibited bright fluorescence, excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity, making them high-quality fluorescent probes for cellular imaging.