Highly fluorescent nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) synthesized from Pennisetum purpureum for selective and sensitive detection of Fe3+ ions

Abstract

The synthesis of nitrogen-doped Graphene Quantum Dots (N-GQDs) employing Pennisetum purpureum (elephant grass) as the carbon precursor and ethylenediamine (EDA) as the nitrogen source was conducted. This study highlights the potential applications of nitrogen-doped multi-fluorescent graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) in the detection of Fe3+. The synthesized N-GQDs have been studied using UV–vis spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectrometry, Raman spectrometry, FT-IR spectrometry, x-ray spectroscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, transmission and high-transmission electron microscopy. The acquired N-GQDs were observed to have an almost hexagonal shape with a lateral size of 2.42 nm and exhibited a comparable quantum yield of approximately 26%. The N-GQDs that have been prepared with consistent size distribution and a significant amount of nitrogen and oxygen-based functional groups showcase outstanding water dispersity. The N-GQDs exhibited the capability to identify the Fe3+ ions in a broad range concentration of 1–600 μM by creating an N-GQDs-Fe3+ complex through the occurrence of functional groups like nitrogen, carbonyl, and carboxyl on N-GQDs surface, has a lower limit of detection at approximately 60 nM. Our study provides evidence that the N-GQDs produced a strong and persistent fluorescence, which is highly soluble in water, notably the precise and selective detection of Fe3+ in water-based solutions.