Carbon dots fabricated by solid-phase carbonization using p-toluidine and l-cysteine for sensitive detection of copper

Abstract

In this study, a label-free “turn off” fluorescent sensor has been resoundingly fabricated using carbon dots (CDs) for ultrasensitive detection of copper ions (Cu2+). CDs are prepared by solid phase carbonization method using p-toluidine and l-cysteine as the precursors. The synthesized CDs exhibited the highest fluorescence intensity with excitation and emission wavelengths set at 300 nm and 400 nm, respectively. The CDs were selective and sensitive to Cu2+ due to the static quenching mechanism. The concentration of CDs, and solution pH and incubation time were important parameters for the developed sensor. The experimental results showed that 20 mgL−1 was enough for the analysis. As the solution pH was concerned, it was apparent that the sensor was endowed with an excellent response signal to Cu2+ and provided high sensitivity at pH 12. The interaction occurred very quickly, and the incubation time could be set at 1 min. The sensor provided a two-stage calibration curve to Cu2+ in the range of 0.05–0.7 and 0.7–4 μM with a limit of detection of 47 nM. The obtained results clearly demonstrated that this facile method was fast, reliable and selective for detecting Cu2+, which would explore a prospective strategy for developing effective and low-cost sensors for monitoring metal ions in aqueous environments.