Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots as Fluorescent Probes for the Detection of Dopamine

Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) were synthesized though a facile, economical and straightforward hydrothermal method by using polyacrylamide as both carbon and nitrogen sources. The as-prepared N-CQDs offered high quantum yield of 23.1%, exhibited good water solubility and fluorescence properties. Moreover, the N-CQDs can be used as effective probes for sensitive and selective detection of dopamine. Fluorescence of N-CQDs was effectively quenched after the addition of dopamine owing to dopamine would be transformed into dopamine-quinone under alkaline conditions. A good linear relationship between fluorescence quenching and the concentration of dopamine in the range 0.1–200 μM was obtained with a low detection limit of 0.05 μM. The proposed method showed high selectivity for dopamine in the presence of potential interfering species. Moreover, this method was successfully applied to the determination of DA in urine sample with satisfactory recoveries.