Turn-Off Fluorometric Determination of Bilirubin Using Facile Synthesized Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots as a Fluorescent Probe.

Abstract

Bilirubin plays a significant role in human health management, particularly in the case of jaundice. Because of the need for the monitoring of bilirubin levels in jaundice patients, the development of a robust sensitive method becomes essential. Here, we describe the development ofa highly sensitive and selective turn-off fluorometric detectionmethod for bilirubin in blood serum samples using nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs). N-CDs was synthesized by the pyrolysis process, using citric acid and L-asparagine as the carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. The prepared N-CDs solution showed highly intense blue emission with good stability. The HR-TEM image of N-CDs revealed spherical dot-like structures with anaverage size calculated to be 7.16nm. Further, the surface functional groups of N-CDs were analyzed by FT-IR, Raman, XRD, and XPS techniques. Fluorescence spectra showed the maximum emission intensity at 443nm (λex). The linear range of addition was performed from 1 to 150µM, and the limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 1.97nM. The emission of N-CDs was quenched by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) by adding bilirubin. These N-CDs showed extraordinary sensitivity and selectivity in the detection of bilirubin. Hence, this fluorescent probe has been proven successful in detecting the concentration of free bilirubin in human serum samples.