Multi-Emission Carbon Dots Combining Turn-On Sensing and Fluorescence Quenching Exhibit Ultrahigh Selectivity for Mercury in Real Water Samples.
Environ Sci Technol
; 58(22): 9887-9895, 2024 Jun 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38775679
ABSTRACT
Mercury is a ubiquitous heavy-metal pollutant and poses serious ecological and human-health risks. There is an ever-growing demand for rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of mercury in natural waters, particularly for regions lacking infrastructure specialized for mercury analysis. Here, we show that a sensor based on multi-emission carbon dots (M-CDs) exhibits ultrahigh sensing selectivity toward Hg(II) in complex environmental matrices, tested in the presence of a range of environmentally relevant metal/metalloid ions as well as natural and artificial ligands, using various real water samples. By incorporating structural features of calcein and folic acid that enable tunable emissions, the M-CDs couple an emission enhancement at 432 nm and a simultaneous reduction at 521 nm, with the intensity ratio linearly related to the Hg(II) concentration up to 1200 µg/L, independent of matrix compositions. The M-CDs have a detection limit of 5.6 µg/L, a response time of 1 min, and a spike recovery of 94 ± 3.7%. The intensified emission is attributed to proton transfer and aggregation-induced emission enhancement, whereas the quenching is due to proton and electron transfer. These findings also have important implications for mercury identification in other complex matrices for routine, screening-level food safety and health management practices.
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Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Poluentes Químicos da Água
/
Carbono
/
Mercúrio
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article