Facile synthesis of dual emission carbon dots for the ratiometric fluorescent detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol and cell imaging

Carbon dots (CDs) with dual emission property can provide a convenient way to construct a ratiometric fluorescent sensor, which contributes to accurate determination of the target analytes. In this work, we present a simple and effective route to prepare dual emission CDs (DE-CDs) through the solvothermal reaction of o-phenylenediamine and ethanolamine. Under the excitation of UV light, DE-CDs not only show two distinguishable fluorescent emission peaks (430 nm, 550 nm), but also exhibit good water solubility and ratio fluorescence stability. The synthesized DE-CDs were employed as a ratiometric fluorescent sensor for the sensitive and selective detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). Under optimal analysis conditions, a good linear relationship was obtained with the TNP concentration range from 0.2 to 50 mu M and the limit of detection can reach 50 nM. The proposed method was applied successfully for the TNP detection in real water samples with recoveries of 86.8-116.3%. Furthermore, cell imaging experiments confirm the feasibility of visualizing intracellular TNP in live HeLa cells. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A facile method for preparing dual emission carbon dots (DE-CDs) through solvothermal reaction is presented. The synthesized DE-CDs exhibit two distinguishable fluorescent emission peaks, good water solubility, and ratio fluorescence stability. These DE-CDs serve as a ratiometric fluorescent sensor for sensitive and selective detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) with excellent performance in real water samples and cell imaging.