Violuric acid carbon dots as a highly fluorescence probe for ultrasensitive determination of Zn (II) in tomato paste

Zinc is an essential metal since it plays an important role in biological systems, therefore, determination of zinc in food samples is important. Violuric acid was used to prepare highly fluorescent carbon dots (CDs), when it irradiated with ultraviolet radiation at 365 nm, a strong violet fluorescence was observed which caused by the increased amount of nitrogen in the CD structure, which were then successfully used for sensing zinc ion based on quenching of fluorescence. Violuric acid's hydrothermal carbonization reaction's temperature and time were simply optimized for better-quality performance of the CDs as-synthesized. The probe was characterized by HRTEM, SEM, XRD, EDX, fluorescence, UV-Visible absorption spectrophotometry, and FTIR. With a lower LOD 0.32 nM, the developed approach demonstrates an exceptional sensitivity and good selective response to the Zn2+ at 25celcius. Compared to the results from ICP, the sensor was successfully used for determination of Zn2+ ions in tomato paste samples.

Automated summary

Zinc is an essential metal in biological systems, making the determination of zinc in food samples important. Fluorescent carbon dots prepared using violuric acid showed strong violet fluorescence under 365nm UV radiation, attributed to increased nitrogen content in the CD structure. The CDs were successfully used for zinc ion sensing through fluorescence quenching. The hydrothermal carbonization reaction temperature and time of violuric acid were optimized for better CD performance. The developed approach demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and selectivity to Zn2+ at 25°C, with a low LOD of 0.32 nM. The sensor was successfully used for determining Zn2+ ions in tomato paste samples, as confirmed by comparison with ICP results.