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One-step Synthesis of Highly Luminescent Nitrogen-doped Carbon Dots for Selective and Sensitive Detection of Mercury(II) Ions and Cellular Imaging

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Abstract

In this paper, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) with high quantum yield (QY) of 40.5% were prepared through a facile and straightforward hydrothermal route. The as-prepared N-CDs exhibited excellent photoluminescence properties, good water-solublity and photostability, negligible cytotoxicity and favourable biocompatibility. Such N-CDs were found to serve as an effective fluorescent sensor for selective and sensitive detection of Hg2+ in a wide linear response concentration range of 0 – 8 µM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.087 µM and could be applied to the determination of Hg2+ in environmental water samples. The corresponding mechanisms were discussed in detail. Moreover, another attractive finding was that the N-CDs showed satisfactory performance in bioimaging before and after the addition of Hg2+ in human lung cancer PC14 cells. With excellent sensitivity, selectivity and biocompatibility, such cheap carbonmaterials are potentially suitable for monitoring of Hg2+ in environmental applications and promising for biological applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, 610064, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Ying Liu, Mei Liao & Xingming Kou

  2. Experimental Animal Center, Sichuan University, 610207, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Xueling He

  3. College of Life Science, Sichuan University, 610064, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Xia Liu

  4. College of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, 610065, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Dan Xiao

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  1. Ying Liu
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  2. Mei Liao
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  3. Xueling He
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  4. Xia Liu
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  5. Xingming Kou
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  6. Dan Xiao
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Correspondence to Xingming Kou or Dan Xiao.

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Liu, Y., Liao, M., He, X. et al. One-step Synthesis of Highly Luminescent Nitrogen-doped Carbon Dots for Selective and Sensitive Detection of Mercury(II) Ions and Cellular Imaging. ANAL. SCI. 31, 971–977 (2015). https://doi.org/10.2116/analsci.31.971

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2116/analsci.31.971

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