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N-doped carbon dots for the determination of Al3+ and Fe3+ using aggregation-induced emission

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Abstract

New portable hydrogel sensors for Al3+ and Fe3+ detection were designed based on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and color change of N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs). N-CDs with yellow fluorescence were prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal method from 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalic acid and acrylamide. The fluorescence of N-CDs was enhanced by Al3+ about 20 times and quenched by Fe3+. It was interesting that although Fe3+ showed obvious quenching on the fluorescence of N-CDs it did not cause a noticeable change in the fluorescence of N-CDs + Al3+. The colorless solution of N-CDs appeared blue in the presence of Fe3+ without the influence of Al3+. Therefore, the turn-on fluorometry and colorimetry systems based on N-CDs were constructed for the simultaneous detection of Al3+ and Fe3+. Furthermore, the portable sensing of Al3+ and Fe3+ was realized with the assistance of hydrogel, filter paper, cellulose acetate, and cellulose nitrate film. The proposed approach was successfully applied to the detection of Al3+ and Fe3+ in food samples and cell imaging.

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Funding

This work was supported financially by the Natural Science Foundation (ZR2022MB052) and the Graduate Education Quality Improvement Plan of Shandong Province (SDYJG21198), and the research foundation of Liaocheng University (318050022 and 318012116).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China

    Dou Yang, Tong Shao, Xiaoshuang Wang, Min Hong, Rui Li & Qiaoli Yue

  2. Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518172, China

    Chenzhong Li

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  1. Dou Yang
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  2. Tong Shao
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  3. Xiaoshuang Wang
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  4. Min Hong
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  5. Rui Li
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  7. Qiaoli Yue
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Correspondence to Qiaoli Yue.

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Yang, D., Shao, T., Wang, X. et al. N-doped carbon dots for the determination of Al3+ and Fe3+ using aggregation-induced emission. Microchim Acta 191, 78 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-023-06143-w

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