Electrochemiluminescence of water-dispersed nitrogen and sulfur doped carbon dots synthesized from amino acids

A facile one-pot hydrothermal approach for synthesizing water-dispersed nitrogen and sulfur doped carbon dots (NS-CDs) with high luminescence quantum yield was explored, using cysteine and tryptophan as precursors. The NS-CDs were characterized by means of FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD, TEM, etc. It was found that the absolute photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) of the NS-CDs determined with an integrating sphere can reach up to 73%, with an average decay time of 17.06 ns. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) behaviors and mechanisms of the NS-CDs/K2S2O8 coreactant system were investigated. When the working electrode was modified with the prepared NS-CDs, the ECL efficiency of the NS-CDs with K2S2O8 was 24%, relative to Ru(bpy)(3)Cl-2/K2S2O8. This work shows great potential for the NS-CDs to be used in bioanalytical applications.

Automated summary

A facile one-pot hydrothermal approach was used to synthesize water-dispersed nitrogen and sulfur doped carbon dots (NS-CDs) with high luminescence quantum yield, using cysteine and tryptophan as precursors. The NS-CDs showed great potential in bioanalytical applications, with an absolute photoluminescence quantum yield reaching up to 73%. The study also investigated the electrochemiluminescence behaviors and mechanisms of the NS-CDs/K2S2O8 coreactant system, showing a 24% efficiency relative to Ru(bpy)(3)Cl-2/K2S2O8.