One-pot synthesis of boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots as the fluorescence probe for dopamine based on the redox reaction between Cr(VI) and dopamine

Doping is recognized as a powerful way to tailor the defect in the surface and modify the properties of Carbon-based (C-based) materials. Various state-of-the-art techniques have been proposed to prepare boron and nitrogen co-doped C-based materials. Here we first introduced 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) as the single starting material to fabricate boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots (N/B-CDs) with high quantum yield (25.9%) through one-pot hydrothermal method without further passivation. We applied the as-prepared N/B-CDs as a probe to detect Cr(VI) based on the inner filter effect (IFE) and dopamine based on the redox reaction, and the linear ranges were 0.25–243   μM for detection of Cr(VI) and 1.4–260   μM for detection of dopamine (DA), respectively. Moreover, this probe was utilized to analysis of dopamine in serum and urine samples, which was presaged more opportunities for application in biological field.