In current work, a novel functionalized carbon dots has been designed and synthesized by covalently linking dopamine to the surface of S,N co-doped carbon dots (DA-S,N-CDs) for selective detection of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ in water. The as-synthesized DA-S,N-CDs emit blue fluorescence peaked at 470 nm and exhibit excitation-dependent tunable emissions. The tolerance towards pH, salt, and UV irradiation of synthesized carbon dots reveals excellent stability. Upon exposure to Fe 3+ or Fe 2+ , the fluorescence of DA-S,N-CDs was selectively quenched, while other competitive cations did not change significantly. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the fluorescence intensity of DA-S,N-CDs showed a good linear relationship with the concentration of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ (5-200 μM for Fe 3+ and 5-300 μM for Fe 2+ ), and the limit of detection was 2.86 μM and 2.06 μM, respectively. Furthermore, considering the excellent stability and anti-interference, DA-S,N-CDs have been successfully used for the detection of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ in environmental water.