Smartphone-Based Fluorescence Detection of Al³⁺ and H₂O Based on the Use of Dual-Emission Biomass Carbon Dots

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) have great application potential due to superior chemical and optical properties. In this work, a class of biomass-based carbon dots (BD-CDs) with multifunctionalities were synthesized by solvothermal treatment of the leaves of Cinnamomum plants. The BD-CDs can respond to Al 3+ and H 2 O by distinctive emission wavelength at 470 and 670 nm under a single excitation. The emission at 470 nm is significantly enhanced by Al 3+ , and the fluorescence at 670 nm is quenched in the presence of H 2 O. A smartphone-based portable detection platform was developed for online analysis of Al 3+ and H 2 O content. The BD-CDs based fluorescence sensing system and the detection platform showed excellent performance in the analysis of tap water and alcoholic drink samples, demonstrating great potential for application in food safety and environmental monitoring.

The detection of Al3+ and Cu2+ ions using isonicotinohydrazide-based chemosensors and their application to live-cell imaging

“…[1,2,3,4] Development of colorimetric and fluorescence-based detection methods that target precise recognition of bioactive metals such as copper (Cu 2+ ) and aluminum (Al 3+ ) is a topic of high interest among researchers. [5,6,7,8,9,10,11] Cu 2+ is the third most abundant heavy metals after Fe 3+ and Zn 2+ in the human body. Several biological processes require Cu 2+ in optimum amounts.…”

Harnessing versatile dynamic carbon precursors for multi-color emissive carbon dots

“…The CDs exhibited two distinct peaks at 470 nm, belonging to the intrinsic structure of CDs, and 670 nm, originating from chlorophyll-derived porphyrins, 110 which are sensitive to aluminum ions and water, respectively, and thus developed for the online analysis of aluminum and water on a smartphone-based portable platform. 111 However, few attempts succeeded in the synthesis of bright deep red/NIR emissive CDs although much attention has been paid to the synthesis CDs with high QY in the blue and green spectral regions. 112 The deep red-region CDs with longer wavelength emission will remarkably improve the optical imaging, benefitting from minimum autofluorescence and light scattering by tissue.…”

Optical biosensors - Illuminating the path to personalized drug dosing

“…Amongst the minority of studies that have evaluated the stability of their sensors, testing protocols are not standardized, with differing storage or stress conditions and duration. Indeed, current sensors and materials do not (Rao et al, 2020). Copyright © 2020, American Chemical Society.…”

“…Copyright © 2019, Elsevier B.V. (B) Structure of portable smartphone-based fluorescence detector. Reproduced with permission(Rao et al, 2020). Copyright © 2020, American Chemical Society.…”