Blue photoluminescent carbon nanodots prepared from zeolite as efficient sensors for picric acid detection

Abstract

The excitation-dependent blue photoluminescent and oxygen-rich carbon nanodots (CNDs) have been prepared through calcinations and etching from MgAPO-44 zeolite occluding N-methylpiperidine organic template. The as-prepared CNDs, with about 3.4nm in diameter, possess excellent dispersibility and photostability in both water and ethanol solution. These CNDs exhibit high selectivity and sensitivity for picric acid (PA) in detection of nitro and nitrophenol compounds in water and ethanol solution with the detection limit as low as 0.36μM and Ksv of 1.30×105. Detection effect can be influenced by the concentration and pH value of CNDs in water solution. Study reveals that the efficient and fast detection of PA can be attributed to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET).