Green preparation of carbon dots by Jinhua bergamot for sensitive and selective fluorescent detection of Hg2+ and Fe3+

Green low-cost, and water-soluble fluorescent carbon dots were prepared under hydrothermal conditions, with a plant of Jinhua bergamot as a carbon source. The as-synthesized C-dots have better stability and relatively high photoluminescence with a quantum yield of 50.78%, along with the fluorescence lifetime of ca. 3.84 ns. Their photoluminescence can be significantly quenched by simply using the buffer solution of HAC-NaAC for Hg2+ and Tris-HCl for Fe3+. Based on this, we explored for selective detection of Hg2+ and Fe3+ with high selectivity, fast response, low cost, and broad linear ranges of 0.01-100 mu M for Hg2+ and 0.025-100 mu M for Fe3+, as well as low detection limits of 5.5 nM (Hg2+) and 0.075 mu M (Fe3+) (S/N = 3). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.