One-pot green synthesis of high quantum yield oxygen-doped, nitrogen-rich, photoluminescent polymer carbon nanoribbons as an effective fluorescent sensing platform for sensitive and selective detection of silver(I) and mercury(II) ions.

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This work reports on a facile, economical, and green preparative strategy toward water-soluble, fluorescent oxygen-doped, nitrogen-rich, photoluminescent polymer carbon nanoribbons (ONPCRs) with a quantum yield of approximately 25.61% by the hydrothermal process using uric acid as a carbon-nitrogen source for the first time. The as-prepared fluorescent ONPCRs showed paddy leaf-like structure with 80-160 nm length and highly efficient fluorescent quenching ability in the presence of mercury(II) (Hg(2+)) or silver (Ag(+)) ions due to the formed nonfluorescent metal complexes via robust Hg(2+)-O or Ag(+)-N interaction with the O and N of fluorescent ONPCRs, which allowed the analysis of Hg(2+) and Ag(+) ions in a very simple method. By employing this sensor, excellent linear relationships existed between the quenching degree of the ONPCRs and the concentrations of Hg(2+) and Ag(+) ions in the range of 2.0 nM to 60 μM and 5.0 nM to 80 μM, respectively. By using ethylenediaminetetraacetate and ammonia as the masking agent of Hg(2+) and Ag(+) ions, respectively, Hg(2+) or Ag(+) ions were exclusively detected in coexistence with Ag(+) or Hg(2+) ions with high sensitivity, and the detection limits as low as 0.68 and 1.73 nM (3σ) were achieved, respectively, which also provided a reusable detection method for Hg(2+) and Ag(+) ions. Therefore, the easily synthesized fluorescent ONPCRs may have great potential applications in the detection of Hg(2+) and Ag(+) ions for biological assay and environmental protection.