Facile synthesis of yellowish-green emitting carbon quantum dots and their applications for phoxim sensing and cellular imaging

In this work, we reported the first use of a novel fluorescent probe for phoxim detection based on yellowish-green emissive carbon quantum dots (CQDs). By facile one-pot hydrothermal treatment of citric acid and p-phenylenediamine, the CQDs with yellowish-green luminescence were synthesized. The sensing mechanism is based on the quenching effect of phoxim on the fluorescence emission of CQDs by inner filter effect (IFE). The CQDs showed a good sensitivity and selectivity to phoxim detection and dual good linear relationships were provided in the concentration ranges of 1-10 mu M and 10-98 mu M, associated with the limit of detection of 0.09 mM. The proposed assay has been allowed to detect phoxim in real samples with satisfying recoveries ranging from 93 to 105.9%. Furthermore, due to the low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility, the as-prepared CQDs was successfully used for cell imaging, demonstrating the considerable potential applications of such CQDs in biological field. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel fluorescent probe based on CQDs for phoxim detection was developed, showing good sensitivity, selectivity, and recoveries. The method has significant potential applications in the biological field.