Spectrally tunable humic acid-based carbon dots: a simple platform for metronidazole and ornidazole sensing in multiple real samples.

Humic acid-based carbon dots (HACDs) have excellent properties and are widely used in environmental detection, bioimaging, and optoelectronic materials. Herein, we investigated the structure-activity relationship between the morphology and optical properties of HACDs, and reported on a novel strategy for metronidazole (MNZ) and ornidazole (ONZ) sensing in multiple real samples. It was found that the average particle size decreased from 3.28 to 2.44 nm, optimal emission wavelength was blue-shifted from 500 to 440 nm, and the quantum yield (QY) improved from 5 to 23% with the temperature increasing from 110 to 400 °C. Under the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and potassium permanganate (KMnO4), the UV-vis spectra of HACD aqueous solution showed time-dependent behavior, and the fluorescence emission of HACDs achieved spectrally tunable multi-color luminescence in the temporal dimension. The surface of HACDs contained a large number of hydroxyl (-OH) and carboxyl (-COOH) fluorophores, resulting in excellent pH sensing. Meanwhile, the synthesized HACDs revealed sensitive response to MNZ and ONZ with the limit of detection (LOD) of 60 nM and 50 nM in aqueous solutions, which had also been successfully applied in various actual samples such as lake water, honey, eggs, and milk with satisfactory results because of the inner filter effect (IFE). Our research is advantageous to enhance the potential applications of HACDs in advanced analytical systems.

Separation, purification and quantification of verbascoside from Penstemon barbatus (Cav.) Roth.

Echinacoside and verbascoside possess a spectrum of significant beneficial bioactivities. A new method of preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for rapid separation and purification of verbascoside from the leaves of Penstemon barbatus (Cav.) Roth was introduced. The solvent system employed here was n-butanol-water (1:1, v/v). The structure was confirmed by IR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. According to the quantification results, echinacoside and verbascoside were found to be as much as 5.25 ± 0.13 mg/g and 11.21 ± 0.16 mg/g, respectively, in the leaves of P. barbatus. This indicates that P. barbatus might be an ideal alternative resource for large scale preparation of echinacoside and verbascoside.