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Eu3+-doped Bovine Serum Albumin-derived Carbon Dots for Ratiometric Fluorescent Detection of Tetracycline

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Abstract

The abuse of antibiotics has become a global concern, thus it is significant to develop simple antibiotic assays. Herein, a novel type of lanthanide-doped bovine serum albumin (BSA) derived carbon dots (BCDs) dubbed Eu-BCDs has been unveiled for ratiometric fluorescent detection of tetracycline (TC), which was formed from the one-step hydrothermal reaction of Eu3+ and BSA. Upon challenge with TC, the blue fluorescence of Eu-BCDs at 448 nm was gradually quenched due to the internal filtration effect, while the characteristic red fluorescence of Eu3+ at 618 nm was significantly enhanced owning to the antenna effect, leading to the ratiometric fluorescent detection of TC with fast response (2 min), a wide linear dynamic range (0–80 μmol/L), and high selectivity and sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD) of 3 nmol/L). Moreover, Eu-BCDs can be successfully applied for the ratiometric fluorescent detection of TC in environmental and biological samples, such as river water, milk, honey and serum. The Eu-BCDs sensing platform would have great application potential in view of its simple preparation, rapid response, high sensitivity and good selectivity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the fund of the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (19ZR1473300), the director fund of Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration (SHUES2022C03), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China

    Tian-Tian Zhang, Zi-Han Chen, Guo-Yue Shi & Min Zhang

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  1. Tian-Tian Zhang
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  2. Zi-Han Chen
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Correspondence to Min Zhang.

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Zhang, TT., Chen, ZH., Shi, GY. et al. Eu3+-doped Bovine Serum Albumin-derived Carbon Dots for Ratiometric Fluorescent Detection of Tetracycline. J. Anal. Test. 6, 365–373 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41664-022-00233-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41664-022-00233-z

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