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Fluorometric determination of hydroquinone by using blue emitting N/S/P-codoped carbon dots

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Abstract

N/S/P-codoped carbon dots (CDs) are shown to be a viable fluorescent probe in a turn-off-on fluorometric assay for hydroquinone (HQ). The preparation of CDs was carried out using a one-step hydrothermal reaction starting with glyoxal and isocarbophos. The method is based on the formation of ground state complexes between CD and Fe(III) which leads to quenching of blue fluorescence (with excitation/emission peaks at 363/448 nm). On addition of HQ, it will be oxidized by Fe(III) upon which fluorescence recovers. This turn-off-on system can be utilized to quantify HQ. A linear relationship exists between fluorescence recovery and HQ concentration in range between 0.56 and 375 μM. The limit of detection is 0.16 μM. The assay was successfully applied to the determination of HQ in spiked water samples and developer samples.

Fluorometric determination of hydroquinone (with good selectivity over catechol and resorcinol) by using blue-emitting N/S/P-codoped carbon dots and the quenching effect of Fe(III).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by Natural Science Foundation (NSF) of China (91543206, 21729501), NSF (ZR2014BQ017, ZR2015BM024, and 2013SJGZ07) and Tai-Shan Scholar Research Fund of Shandong Province and research foundation of Liaocheng University. Dr. Li also thanks the support sponsored by NSF Independent Research/Development (IRD) Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China

    Yongping Wang, Qiaoli Yue, Lixia Tao, Cong Zhang & Chen-Zhong Li

  2. Nanobioengineering/Bioelectronics Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33174, USA

    Chen-Zhong Li

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Wang, Y., Yue, Q., Tao, L. et al. Fluorometric determination of hydroquinone by using blue emitting N/S/P-codoped carbon dots. Microchim Acta 185, 550 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-3082-1

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