Green carbon dots synthesized from Chlorella Sorokiniana microalgae biochar for chrome detection

In the quest to find an economical and accurate method of detecting toxic metals as well as finding an application for biochar as a fuel, this work used microalgae biochar to sinter Carbon Dots (CDs) that can be used as pathways for metallic ions detection. Carbon Dots from microalgae biochar (generated in pyrolysis) were synthesized through thermochemical depolymerization with KMnO4 at different con-centrations. After this step, the purification of the nanoparticles was performed. The characterization of CDs was performed through fluorescence intensity, Zeta Potential, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that all samples exhibited fluorescence, samples synthesized with KMnO4 at concentrations of 8.54 % and 10.0 % (CD-MBK06 and CD-MBK07, respectively) showed the highest fluorescence intensity and good stability. When adding Cr (VI) and Cr (III) to the CD-MBK06 and CD-MBK07 samples, it is possible to notice that there was flu-orescence quenching as the metal ion concentration increased, except for the CD-MBK07 sample for Cr (III), at a length of 350 nm, indicating that this sample shows selectivity for extinction only for Cr (VI). (c) 2022 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, microalgae biochar was used to synthesize carbon dots (CDs) for detecting toxic metal ions. The synthesized CDs showed high fluorescence intensity and stability. The results demonstrated selective quenching ability of the CDs towards Cr (VI), indicating their potential for metal ion detection.