Green synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots using chloroplast dispersions as precursors and application for Fe3+ ion sensing.

Water-soluble carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized using a one-step hydrothermal treatment of chloroplast dispersions extracted from fresh leaves as a green carbon source. The CD solution showed an emission peak centred at 445 nm when excited at 300 nm. The synthesized CDs were uniform and monodispersed with an average size of 5.6 nm. When adding ferric(III) ions (Fe3+ ) to the solution of the original CDs, the fluorescence intensity decreased significantly. Based on the linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and concentration of Fe3+ ions, an effective method for rapid, sensitive and selective Fe3+ sensing in aqueous solution could be established. Under optimum conditions, the extent of the fluorescence quenching of prepared CDs strongly depended on the Fe3+ ions over a wide concentration range 1.0-100.0 µM with a detection limit (3σ/k) of 0.3 µM. Furthermore, the quantitative determination of Fe3+ ions in environmental water samples was realized.

Spectrofluorometric determination of berberine using a novel Au nanocluster with large Stokes shift.

Berberine hydrochloride (BHC), a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, is widely applied as a an agent in traditional Chinese medicine. Almost all the traditional methods for BHC detection require complicated preprocessing steps or expensive instruments. In this article, we report a simple, rapid, sensitive, and selective method for BHC detection using fluorescent gold nanoclusters (F-AuNCs) as the fluorescent probe with a large Stokes shift of 237 nm. The F-AuNCs prepared with citrate-stabilized stannous chloride and hydrogen tetrachloroaurate(III) as raw materials in an aqueous medium display strong and stable fluorescence at 566 nm. When F-AuNCs are mixed with BHC, the fluorescence of F-AuNCs is effectively quenched. Under optimized conditions, this method allows sensitive and selective measurements of BHC in a concentration ranging from 1.0 × 10-6 to 1.0 × 10-4 mol L-1 with a detection limit of 7.5 × 10-8 mol L-1, which is relatively low among reported spectral methods. This method provides excellent selectivity for the detection of BHC against inorganic anions and natural amino acids. In addition, the BHC content in two different types of berberine tablets was successfully determined by this method and the results showed high accuracy. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Photodegradation of Cationic and Anioic Dyes by pH-Dependent Dispersion of Amphoteric g-C3N4 Nanosheets.

g-C3N4 nanosheets (NSs) were prepared via H2SO4 exfoliation from the bulky g-C3N4 and the photocatalytic (PC) activities were investigated comprehensively using Rodamine B (RhB) and Chromotrope 2R (Ch2R) as candidate pollutants. The results showed that the pH value have important functions in the improvement of photodegradation performance of C3N4 NSs. RhB as cationic dye could be photodegraded more efficiently under acidic conditions while Ch2R as anionic dye was degraded easily in pH ≥ 11 solution. In particular, the Ch2R could be degraded completely within only 30 min in pH = 11 solution. It might be because the amphoteric C3N4 NSs surface with carboxyl and amino groups possessed negative and positive charges in alkaline and acidic conditions, respectively. These results presumably provided a new idea to enhance the pH-dependent photodegradation activity and degrade different types of pollutants selectively by adjusting the pH of amphoteric nanocatalyts.