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A ratiometric fluorescence sensor for ascorbic acid determination based on an AND-NAND logic pair

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Abstract

An AND-NAND logic pair is reported based on non-purified carbon quantum dots (CDs) for ascorbic acid (AA) detection. In the logic operation, molybdenum oxide nanosheets (MoO3 NSs) and AA are used as two signal inputs. In the presence of AA, MoO3 NSs are reduced to plasmonic molybdenum oxide, which decreases the CD fluorescence intensity because of a static quenching, dynamic quenching, and internal filtration effect. Meanwhile, the AA is oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid and forms fluorescent 3-(dihydroxyethyl) furo [3,4-b] quinoxaline-1-one with o-phenylenediamine from non-purified CDs. On this basis, an AND-NAND logic pair was constructed and used as a ratiometric fluorescence sensor for highly sensitive detection of AA. The method has a wide linear range of 0.05–50 μM, and a detection limit of 34 nM. In addition, it was used to detect AA in fresh fruit. Potential applications include chemical computing, optoelectronic devices, biomedical science, and environmental monitoring.

Highlights

1. A ratiometric fluorescence sensor based on AND-NAND logic pair constructed by CDs and MoO3 NSs was successfully fabricated.

2. The ratiometric fluorescence sensor exhibited satisfactory linear range, high sensitivity, and good selectivity for AA.

3. The ratiometric fluorescence method was able to detect AA in fresh fruit with good results comparable to official fluorescence methods.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21277110) and all authors here express their deep thanks. We thank Alan Burns, PhD, from the LiwenBianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Zilong Zhang and Dengying Long contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400700, China

    Zilong Zhang, Dengying Long, Hong Xian, Jun Chen, Huanjun Peng & Jingdong Peng

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China

    Mei Yang

  3. Chongqing Municipal Environmental Sanitation Monitoring Center, Chongqing, 401121, China

    Xiaojuan Chang

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  1. Zilong Zhang
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Correspondence to Jingdong Peng.

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Zhang, Z., Long, D., Yang, M. et al. A ratiometric fluorescence sensor for ascorbic acid determination based on an AND-NAND logic pair. Microchim Acta 188, 376 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-021-05043-1

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