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Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots as a fluorescence probe combined with magnetic solid-phase extraction purification for analysis of folic acid in human serum

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Abstract

A novel and sensitive method based on nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots as a fluorescence probe coupled with magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) purification for analysis of folic acid (FA) in human serum samples has been established for the first time. In the developed system, magnetic nanoparticles coated with hexanoic acid (Fe3O4@C6) were synthesized by a one-step chemical co-precipitation method with good magnetic properties and dispersibility for sample purification, and it is better to be separated from the sample. High fluorescence nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs), simply prepared using a one-step hydrothermal method with nitrilotriacetic acid, could be selectively quenched by FA. Based on this phenomenon, a fluorescence assay was proposed for specific determination of FA. Various operational experiment parameters have been studied and optimized in detail. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the detection limit of the proposed method for FA was evaluated to be 0.5 nM (S/N = 3), while the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.2% (n = 6). Finally, the proposed method was applied for determination of trace levels of FA from human serum samples and quantitative recoveries were achieved within the range of 95.7–103.5%. All of the results showed that the proposed method had significant application in further research.

Schematic of synthesis of N-CQDs and schematic of suggested mode for analysis of folic acid (FA).

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Funding information

The work was strongly supported by the Analysis and Testing Foundation of Kunming University of Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650500, China

    Meng Wang, Jianhao Hua & Yaling Yang

  2. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213-3890, USA

    Yang Jiao

  3. Yunnan Province Food Safety Research Inst, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650500, China

    Chunsheng Cheng

Authors
  1. Meng Wang
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  2. Yang Jiao
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  3. Chunsheng Cheng
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  4. Jianhao Hua
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  5. Yaling Yang
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Correspondence to Yaling Yang.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants serum samples were collected from. The studies have been approved by Kunming University of Science and Technology Ethics Committee and Carnegie Mellon University Ethics Committee and have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards.

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Wang, M., Jiao, Y., Cheng, C. et al. Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots as a fluorescence probe combined with magnetic solid-phase extraction purification for analysis of folic acid in human serum. Anal Bioanal Chem 409, 7063–7075 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0665-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0665-3

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