Formation of fluorescent carbon nanodots from kitchen wastes and their application for detection of Fe3+

This work reports a scalable synthesis of water-dispersible fluorescent carbon nanodots based on the simple hydrothermal method (180 degrees C for 6h) of kitchen wastes (grape peel for example). We discuss the feasibility of synthesis from kitchen wastes both experimentally and theoretically, and the as-prepared nanodots have high selectivity for Fe3+ ions based on fluorescence quenching which is due to the complexes between nanodots and metal ions. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.