Synthesis of Novel Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots From Rosa roxburghii for Rapid and Highly Selective Detection of o-nitrophenol and Cellular Imaging.

Qianchun Zhang,Yuguo Zheng,Li Zhao,Yun Wu,Li Jiang,Junyi Liang,Yan Wang

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.00665

Qianchun Zhang, Yuguo Zheng + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2020.00665

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Abstract

A novel carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were successfully synthesized by one-step hydrothermal reaction using Rosa roxburghii as a biomass-based precursor. The CQDs have an average size of 2.5 nm and a narrow size distribution. They display strong blue fluorescence with a quantum yield of 24.8% and good biocompatibility. Notably, these CQDs were capable of detecting trace o-nitrophenol in surface water and sewage with high sensitivity and specificity. The linear range is 0.08–40 μmol/L, and the limit of detection is 15.2 nmol/L. Furthermore, this CQDs was successfully applied for o-nitrophenol analysis in river water and sewage samples. Additionally, Hep3B cells, a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, can be easily imaged with high resolution using the as-prepared CQDs as nanoprobes. These results reveal that the as-prepared CQDs have potential applications for detecting o-nitrophenol and cell imaging.

Highlights

As a new type of zero-dimensional carbon-based nanomaterials, fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have received tremendous attention from the scientific community (Lim et al, 2015)
Rosa roxburghii was collected from the local farmers market and used fruit parts for subsequent experiments
8 h was chosen as the optimal condition for the following experiments

Summary

Introduction

As a new type of zero-dimensional carbon-based nanomaterials, fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have received tremendous attention from the scientific community (Lim et al, 2015). Two approaches are generally adopted to synthesize CQDs including top-down and bottom-up, both are using physical, chemical, or electrochemical techniques. These methods involve hydrothermal treatment, chemical oxidation, ultrasonic treatment, and microwave synthesis, etc., compared with other methods, hydrothermal treatment is convenient, sustainable, and powerful (Das et al, 2018; Jing et al, 2019). CQDs derived from biomass general have low quantum yield (QY) (Das et al, 2018; Jing et al, 2019). This limits their potential applications since CQDs with a high QY are suitable for a wide range of uses: fluorescent sensors (Yang et al, 2016), biosensing (Yan et al, 2019), chemical sensing

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