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Research Article

Optically tunable fluorescent carbon nanoparticles and their application in fluorometric sensing of copper ions

Minhuan Lan1,2<, Shaojing Zhao1,2<, Shuilin Wu1, Xiaofang Wei3, Yanzhao Fu2, Juanjuan Wu4, Pengfei Wang3( ), Wenjun Zhang1( )
Center of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) and Department of Materials Science and Engineering,City University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong SAR,China;
Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Water Environment and Agriculture Product Safety,College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University,Changsha,410083,China;
Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials,Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100190,China;
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Organic Solar Cells and Photochemical Conversion,School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology,Tianjin,300384,China;

§ Minhuan Lan and Shaojing Zhao contributed equally to this work.

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Abstract

A series of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) with emission wavelength ranging from 483 to 525 nm were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of poly-3-thiopheneacetic acid (PTA) and NaOH. The emission wavelength and surface oxidation degree of CNPs were shown to be controllable by simply adjusting NaOH concentration. These CNPs presented obvious fluorescence spectral response toward copper ions (Cu2+) through static quenching caused synergistically by electron transfer and inner filter effect. The O- and S-containing groups on the surface of CNPs were demonstrated to be responsible for their outstanding sensing performance. Based on that, a CNPs-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for Cu2+ with a high fluorescence quenching rate constant of 1.4 × 105 L/mol and a short response time (10 s) was developed. Their practical applications in detecting Cu2+ in pond water and living cells were also demonstrated.

Keywords

carbon nanoparticlestunablefluorometriccopper ions

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Nano Research
Volume 12 Issue 10,
October 2019
Pages 2576-2583
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-019-2489-2
Cite this article:
Lan M, Zhao S, Wu S, et al. Optically tunable fluorescent carbon nanoparticles and their application in fluorometric sensing of copper ions. Nano Research, 2019, 12(10): 2576-2583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-019-2489-2
Topics:
CarbonCopperMetal ionsNanoparticlesSodium hydroxide

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Received: 02 April 2019
Revised: 20 July 2019
Accepted: 21 July 2019
Published: 01 August 2019
© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019
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