Nitrogen and chlorine dual-doped carbon nanodots for determination of curcumin in food matrix via inner filter effect

Abstract

In this work, a novel simple, fast, selective and inexpensive fluorescence method for the determination of curcumin based on the fluorescence quenching of nitrogen and chlorine dual-doped carbon nanodots (N,Cl-CDs) was for the first time presented. The N,Cl-CDs were fastly and greenly produced by simply mixing glucose, 1,2-ethylenediamine (EDA) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). The fluorescence of N,Cl-CDs was significantly quenched by curcumin via a synergistic effect of dynamic quenching and inner filter effect (IFE). The N,Cl-CDs shows high selectivity and sensitivity towards curcumin sensing, achieving a linear range of 0.1–35 μM and a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 38 nM. The proposed fluorescence method was successfully utilized for curcumin detection in food samples with recoveries in a range of 96.8–106.1%. The findings of this study suggest the feasibility and usefulness of N,Cl-CDs as an effective fluorescence probe for the determination of curcumin in complex food matrix.