Carbon dots synthesized by the m-trihydroxybenzene as the carbon source and its application on the detection of pH value

New carbon dots (CDs) were prepared by a microwave method using m-trihydroxybenzene and dilute sulphuric acid as raw materials. The as-prepared CDs exhibited excellent water solubility and photoluminesence properties. The optimum excitation and emission wavelengths of the new CDs were at 365 nm and 465 nm, respectively. The fluorescence of the new CDs experienced remarkable changes in the presence of Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer solution with different pH values under 4 degrees C after reacting for 70 min. In addition, a linear relationship between the logarithm of the relative fluorescence intensity ratio [lg(I-F/I-Fo)] of CDs and the pH values of the sensing system ranging 1.81-5.72 was obtained, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9933. Thus, a sensitive and simple method to detect the pH value of solution was developed. Furthermore, the analytical application of detecting the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar was investigated. The detection values were found similar to the reference values, fully demonstrating a good linear relationship between the logarithm of the relative fluorescence intensity ratio of the CDs and the pH value of the system. Hence, the method could be used to detect the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar.