Dual-emission Carbon Dots Work with Smartphones to Build Portable Fluorescence Colorimetric Sensors for Ag+ and Cu2+

doi:10.7503/cjcu20240422

Abstract

Abstract:

Carbon dots（CDs） emitting blue and yellow fluorescence were synthesized via a hydrothermal method using citric acid， polyethyleneimine， and o-phenylenediamine as carbon sources. Two types of CDs were self-assembled into dual-emission probes（B/Y-CDs）， which were utilized to construct visualized fluorescence sensors for detecting Ag⁺ and Cu²⁺ in aqueous solutions. The B/Y-CDs were characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy， zeta potential analysis， X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. Results indicated that the excitation wavelength of B/Y-CDs is 350 nm， with emission wavelengths at 465 nm and 555 nm. Upon the introduction of Ag⁺ into the system， the intensity of yellow fluorescence decreased significantly， while the blue fluorescence exhibited only a slight decrease. When Cu²⁺ was introduced， the intensity of yellow fluorescence increased significantly， while the blue fluorescence intensity decreased markedly. The effects of pH， time， and temperature on sensor performance were further examined. Under optimal experimental conditions， the linear range of B/Y-CDs for detecting Ag⁺ was 0.05—250 μmol/L， the detection limit was 19.70 nmol/L； the linear range of B/Y-CDs for detecting Cu²⁺ was 0.02—200 μmol/L， the detection limit is 8.87 nmol/L. The constructed sensor demonstrated good selectivity and can be utilized for the detection of Ag⁺and Cu²⁺in aquatic environments， achieving sample recovery rates of 93.7%—105.7% and 95.3%—106.6%， respectively. Furthermore， the research integrated the sensor with a color recognition application on smartphones， enabling the recording of color changes and facilitating rapid and sensitive visual quantitative detection of Ag⁺ and Cu²⁺ in an aqueous solution.

Key words: Carbon dot, Silver ion, Copper ion, Fluorescence ratio sensor, Visual detection

CLC Number:

O657.1

TrendMD:

WANG Congcong, ZHOU Hengbo, REN Lifang, SHEN Shigang, MA Huichun, DONG Jiangxue. Dual-emission Carbon Dots Work with Smartphones to Build Portable Fluorescence Colorimetric Sensors for Ag⁺ and Cu²⁺[J]. Chem. J. Chinese Universities, 2025, 46(4): 20240422.

Figures/Tables 9

References 37

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Sample	Ag⁺				Cu²⁺
Sample	Added/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Found/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Recovery（%）	RSD（%， n=5）	Added/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Found/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Recovery（%）	RSD（%， n=5）
Lake water	0	4.2	—	1.16	0	2.7	—	0.72
	50	52.0	95.6	0.81	50	54.2	103.0	0.46
	100	103.4	99.2	0.63	100	105.6	96.9	0.20
	200	215.6	105.7	0.88	150	150.4	106.6	0.34
Tap⁃water	0	1.1	—	1.17	0	1.0	—	1.17
	50	47.9	93.7	1.25	50	52.6	103.2	0.63
	100	105.1	104.8	0.70	100	99.8	98.8	0.62
	200	197.2	97.9	0.63	150	152.5	94.3	0.60
Spring water	0	11.7	—	1.00	0	11.7	—	1.01
	50	56.6	89.8	1.17	50	59.3	95.3	0.76
	100	115.3	103.6	0.74	100	114.5	102.8	0.49
	200	199.9	94.1	0.39	150	158.5	97.8	0.54

Sample	Ag⁺				Cu²⁺
Sample	Added/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Found/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Recovery（%）	RSD（%， n=5）	Added/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Found/ （μmol·L^‒1）	Recovery（%）	RSD（%， n=5）
Lake water	0	4.2	—	1.16	0	2.7	—	0.72
	50	52.0	95.6	0.81	50	54.2	103.0	0.46
	100	103.4	99.2	0.63	100	105.6	96.9	0.20
	200	215.6	105.7	0.88	150	150.4	106.6	0.34
Tap⁃water	0	1.1	—	1.17	0	1.0	—	1.17
	50	47.9	93.7	1.25	50	52.6	103.2	0.63
	100	105.1	104.8	0.70	100	99.8	98.8	0.62
	200	197.2	97.9	0.63	150	152.5	94.3	0.60
Spring water	0	11.7	—	1.00	0	11.7	—	1.01
	50	56.6	89.8	1.17	50	59.3	95.3	0.76
	100	115.3	103.6	0.74	100	114.5	102.8	0.49
	200	199.9	94.1	0.39	150	158.5	97.8	0.54

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Dual-emission Carbon Dots Work with Smartphones to Build Portable Fluorescence Colorimetric Sensors for Ag⁺ and Cu²⁺

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