Multicolor nitrogen‐doped carbon quantum dots and its application in the detection of Fe3+ ion

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, nitrogen‐doped carbon quantum dots (N‐CQDs) are synthesized by the hydrothermal method. N‐CQDs exhibit strong fluorescence, and N‐CQDs are well dispersed in water as well as in various organic solvents. N‐CQDs emit multi‐color fluorescence from blue to red, with wavelengths in the range of 450–650 nm without the need for purification. Furthermore, the fluorescence emission of N‐CQDs was selectively quenched after adding Fe3+ ions. N‐CQDs were used as a nanoprobe for the detection of Fe3+ ions, showing a good linear correlation between the fluorescence emission and the concentration of Fe3+ in the Fe3+ concentration range from 0 to 100 μM. The limit of detection (LOD) was 55.7 μM for Fe3+ in water and 40.2 μM in fetal bovine serum (FBS) samples. The study shows that the synthesized N‐CQDs have low cost and great potential for application in biological analysis.