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Carbon dots serve as an effective probe for the quantitative determination and for intracellular imaging of mercury(II)

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Abstract

We describe a new method for synthesis of water-soluble photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) by one-pot hydrothermal treatment of adipic acid and triammonium citrate. The CDs have excitation/emission maxima of 340/440 nm, a quantum yield of 0.13, and are shown to be a viable fluorescent probe for the determination of Hg(II). It shows a linear relationship in the 4 to 18 μM mercury ion concentration range. The detection limit is as low as 2.47 μM. The CDs were applied to intracellular sensing and imaging of Hg(II) where they showed low toxicity.

Carbon dots synthesized by hydrothermal method can be used as “turn-off” fluorescent probe Hg2+ determination. Besides, the carbon dots were applied to intracellular sensing and imaging of Hg2+.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this manuscript was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21174103, 21374078, 51308390) and Tianjin Research Program of Application Foundation and Advanced Technology (No. 15JCYBJC18100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Key Lab of Fiber Modification & Functional Fiber of Tianjin, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin, 300387, People’s Republic of China

    Fanyong Yan, Depeng Kong, Qianghua Ye, Juanjuan He, Xingfei Guo & Li Chen

  2. Department of pharmacology/Key Laboratory for Basic Pharmacology of Ministry of Education, Zunyi Medical College, Zunyi, Guizhou, 563000, People’s Republic of China

    Yunmei Luo

Authors
  1. Fanyong Yan
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  2. Depeng Kong
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  3. Yunmei Luo
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  4. Qianghua Ye
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  5. Juanjuan He
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  6. Xingfei Guo
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  7. Li Chen
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Correspondence to Fanyong Yan or Li Chen.

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Yan, F., Kong, D., Luo, Y. et al. Carbon dots serve as an effective probe for the quantitative determination and for intracellular imaging of mercury(II). Microchim Acta 183, 1611–1618 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1788-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1788-5

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