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A Fluorescent “Turn-off” Probe for the Determination of Curcumin Using Upconvert Luminescent Carbon Dots

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Abstract

This work established a novel and simple method for quantitative determination of curcumin by developing a “turn-off” fluorescence probe based on upconvert luminescent carbon dots (p-CDs). The carbon dots were synthesized with p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and ethanol by solvothermal method and had specific up-conversion luminescence properties which could be applied in other sensing fields. The sensing mechanism of this fluorescent probe was based on the inter filter effect (IFE) between p-CDs and curcumin. As the concentration of curcumin increased, the fluorescence of p-CDs could be selectively quenched. Under the optimal conditions, the fluorescence quenching intensity of p-CDs had a good linear relationship with curcumin in the range of 0.4–45 µΜ and the detection limit was 0.133 µM. In addition, the fluorescent “turn-off” probe constructed with p-CDs exhibited high accuracy and recovery in the analysis of real sample curry powder, indicating that the fluorescence “turn-off” probe had potential application for the detection of curcumin in the complex matrixes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial support by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 21671132).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, People’s Republic of China

    Chenhong Yu, Qi Zhuang, Hanyue Cui, Li Li, Yaping Ding, Jiaxin Lin & Yingchun Duan

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  1. Chenhong Yu
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  2. Qi Zhuang
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  3. Hanyue Cui
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  4. Li Li
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  5. Yaping Ding
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  6. Jiaxin Lin
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  7. Yingchun Duan
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Correspondence to Li Li or Yaping Ding.

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Yu, C., Zhuang, Q., Cui, H. et al. A Fluorescent “Turn-off” Probe for the Determination of Curcumin Using Upconvert Luminescent Carbon Dots. J Fluoresc 30, 1469–1476 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02590-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02590-3

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