Ultra-sensitive and selective Hg2+ detection based on fluorescent carbon dots

Ruihua Liu, Haitao Li, Weiqian Kong, Juan Liu, Yang Liu, Cuiyan Tong, Xing Zhang, Zhenhui Kang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

140 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fluorescent carbon dots (FCDs) were efficiently synthesized by one-step sodium hydroxide-assisted reflux method from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The obtained FCDs exhibit excellent water-solubility and high stability. Under the UV irradiation, the FCDs could emit bright blue photoluminescence, and also they were found to show excellent up-conversion fluorescence. It was further demonstrated that such FCDs can serve as effective fluorescent sensing platform for Hg2+ ions detection with ultra-sensitivity and selectivity. The sensing system achieved a limit of detection as low as 1 fM, which is much lower than all the previous reported sensing systems for Hg2+ ions detection. This FCDs sensing system has been successfully applied for the analysis of Hg2+ ions in water samples from river, lake, and tap water, showing good practical feasibility.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2529-2534
Number of pages6
JournalMaterials Research Bulletin
Volume48
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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