This study aimed to synthesize dimethylglyoxime (DMG) (N-source)-doped
graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) via simultaneous pyrolysis of citric
acid and 1.0% (w/v) DMG. The maximum excitation wavelength (λ
max
, ex = 380 nm) of the N-GQD solution (49% quantum yield
(QY)) was a red shift with respect to that of bare GQDs (λ
max
, ex = 365 nm) (46% QY); at the same maximum emission wavelength
(λ
max
, em = 460 nm), their resonance light scattering
(RLS) intensity peak was observed at λ
max
, ex/em
= 530/533 nm. FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XRD, energy-dispersive
X-ray spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analyses
were performed to examine the synthesized materials. The selective
and sensitive detection of Ni
2+
using the RLS intensity
was performed at 533 nm under the optimum conditions consisting of
both 25 mg L
–1
N-GQDs and 2.5 mg L
–1
DMG in the ammonium buffer solution of pH 9.0. The linearity of
Ni
2+
was 50.0–200.0 μg L
–1
with a regression line,
y
= 5.031
x
– 190.4 (
r
2
= 0.9948). The limit
of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were determined
to be 20.0 and 60.0 μg L
–1
, respectively.
The method precision expressed as % RSDs was 4.90 for intraday (
n
= 3 × 3) and 7.65 for interday (
n
= 5 × 3). This developed method afforded good recoveries of
Ni
2+
in a range of 85–108% when spiked with real
water samples. Overall, this innovative method illustrated the identification
and detection of Ni
2+
as a DMG complex with N-GQDs, and
the detection was highly sensitive and selective.