pH-Sensitive blue-green dual-emission carbon dots for dasatinib detection

A dual-signal fluorescent probe with 2-aminoterephthalic acid and p-aminosalicylic acid as precursors was presented for the sensing of anticancer drug dasatinib (DAS). Blue-green dual-emission carbon dots (BG-CDs) with 450 nm and 520 nm fluorescence emission were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. Based on the inner filter effect (IFE), DAS could result in dual-peak quenching of BG-CDs. And the fluorescence intensity of dual-peak BG-CDs gradually decreased with the increase of DAS concentration. There was a good linear relationship between the quenching difference values of dual-peak fluorescence intensity and the concentration of DAS in the range of 2.42–150 μmol·L −1 , and the limit of detection was 0.81 μmol·L −1 . Meanwhile, the BG-CDs could also be employed for the determination of pH between 3.0 and 6.5 with good reversibility. Compared with other traditional single-signal detection strategies, the dual-signal method yielded more accurate and reliable results.