Novel fluorescent carbon dots derived from shikimic acid for ultra-high sensitive detection and efficient removal of sulfasalazine

Abstract

The extensive use of sulfasalazine (SSZ) poses potential threats to human health and ecosystems. Therefore, sensitive detection and simultaneous efficient removal of sulfasalazine is greatly desirable. Meanwhile, shikimic acid, a natural product obtained from Chinese star anise is a promising precursor for carbon dots construction due to its unique structure. Taking the above into account, in this work, novel fluorescent carbon dots (SA-CDs) for sensitive detection and highly efficient removal of sulfasalazine have been developed. SA-CDs were facilely obtained from shikimic acid by using one-pot hydrothermal synthesis. The structure and composition of SA-CDs were fully characterized with TEM, PXRD, FT-IR, DLS and XPS tests. Strong fluorescent emission centered at 428 nm was recorded for SA-CDs, enabling the detection of SSZ. Quantitatively speaking, SA-CDs can selectively detection SSZ amount 17 antibiotics with an experimental limit of detection (LOD) of 100 nM and a calculated LOD of 60 pM. Adsorption experiments suggested that chemical monolayer adsorption predominates in the adsorption process, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 22.67 mg/g. Aggregations formed during detection enable the simultaneous removal of SSZ upon centrifugation. Moreover, SA-CDs have been successfully applied to the detection of SSZ in real samples, including river water, soil, tea and eggs.