Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506 (2017) 373–378

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcis

Short Communication

Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots as fluorescent probe for ‘‘off-on”

detection of mercury ions, L-cysteine and iodide ions
Hao Huang a,b, Yuhui Weng a, Lihao Zheng a,b, Bixia Yao a,b, Wen Weng a,b,⇑, Xiuchun Lin c,⇑
a
College of Chemistry and Environment, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, China
b
Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Modern Analytical Science and Separation Technology, Zhangzhou 363000, China
c
College of Environmental and Engineering, Putian University, Putian 351100, China

g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t
An ‘‘off-on” method for highly sensitive and selective detection of Hg2+ and L-cysteine (L-Cys) or Hg2+ and I using home-made nitrogen-doped carbon
quantum dots (N-CQDs) as fluorescent probe was reported.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The application of fluorescent nanoparticles to the detection of inorganic ions and organic compounds
Received 7 May 2017 has been attracted wide attention recently. In this paper, an ‘‘off-on” method for highly sensitive and
Revised 14 July 2017 selective detection of Hg2+ and L-cysteine (L-Cys) or Hg2+ and I using home-made nitrogen-doped carbon
Accepted 19 July 2017
quantum dots (N-CQDs) as fluorescent probe was reported. The N-CQDs with a fluorescence quantum
Available online 20 July 2017
yield of 42.2% were prepared using tartaric acid, citric acid and ethanediamine as the precursors in the
oleic acid media. The fluorescence of the obtained N-CQDs could be quenched selectively and sensitively
Keywords:
by the addition of Hg2+ (turn-off) with a detection limit of 83.5 nM. When L-Cys or I was added into the
Carbon quantum dots
Fluorescent probe
N-CQDs-Hg2+ system, the fluorescence was recovered effectively (turn-on). This process could be used to
Mercury ions the detection of L-Cys or I with a detection limit of 45.8 and 92.3 nM, respectively.
L-Cysteine Ó 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Iodide ions

1. Introduction
The pollution of heavy metal ions has become a serious world-
wide problem due to their severe risks to human health and the
environment. As one of the most toxic heavy metals, mercury with
the feature of strong toxicity and bioaccumulation can cause seri-
⇑ Corresponding authors at: College of Chemistry and Environment, Minnan
Normal University, Zhangzhou, 363000, China (W. Weng); College of Environmental
and Engineering, Putian University, Putian, 351100, China (X. Lin).
E-mail addresses: weng_wen@126.com (W. Weng), 420186900@qq.com (X. Lin).
ous human health problems even at very low concentration [1,2].
On the other hand, L-cysteine, as a small-molecular-weight biolog-
ical thiol-containing amino acid, is essential in maintaining biolog-
ical redox homeostasis. An abnormal level of L-Cys has been linked
to many diseases, such as slow growth, liver damage, skin lesion,
Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease [3–6]. It is also
well-known that the content of iodine is directly related to human
health [7]. Iodine deficiency could lead to some serious problems
such as intellectual disability. Iodine excess could also cause the
disease. It is of great necessity to develop rapid and user-friendly

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2017.07.076
0021-9797/Ó 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
374 H. Huang et al. / Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506 (2017) 373–378
Fig. 1. The TEM image (A), the UV–vis and photoluminescence spectrum (B), and the excitation-dependent emission spectrum (C) of the N-CQDs. Inset of A, the size
distribution of the N-CQDs. Inset of B, the photographs under illumination of white (left) and UV (365 nm, right) light.
method for the detection of mercury ions, L-cysteine and iodide
ions.
Recently, the application of fluorescent nanoparticles to the
detection of inorganic ions and organic compounds, temperature
sensing, bioimaging and nanomedicine has been attracted wide
attention [8–12]. Various nanomaterials including fluorescently
doped silicas and sol-gels, hydrophilic polymers (hydrogels),
hydrophobic organic polymers, semiconducting polymers dots,
quantum dots, carbon dots, other carbonaceous nanomaterials,
upconversion nanoparticles, noble metal nanoparticles (mainly
gold and silver), etc. have been investigated for these applications
[13–16]. Among them, carbon dots have received particular con-
cern because of their excellent optical properties, good biocompat-
ibility, great aqueous solubility, and simple synthesis [17].
Heteroatom-doped carbon dots which often possess high fluores-
cent quantum yield have even become the focus.
Xu et al. developed a new fluorescent probe based on ensemble
of gold nanoclusters and polymer protected gold nanoparticles for
turn-on sensing of L-cysteine [18]. Li et al. developed a simple and
distinctive method for the ultrasensitive detection of Cu2+ and Hg2+
based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering using cysteine-
functionalized silver nanoparticles attached with Raman-labeling
molecules [19]. Amjadi et al. investigated a carbon dots-silver
nanoparticles fluorescence resonance energy transfer system as a
novel turn-on fluorescent probe for selective determination of cys-
teine [20]. Lin et al. prepared europium-decorated graphene quan-
tum dots as a novel ‘‘off-on” fluorescent probe for the label-free
determination of Cu2+ and L-cysteine [21]. Developing convenient
methods based on novel nanomaterials for the detection of metal
ions and biological active substances is still of great significance.
In this report, water-soluble N-CQDs prepared from tartaric
acid, citric acid and ethanediamine by a facile one-pot solvother-
mal method were used to the ‘‘off-on” detection of Hg2+, L-Cys
and I with high sensitivity and selectivity. The N-CQDs could be
obtained conveniently, and the established method has a promis-
ing prospect for the detection of real samples.
2. Experimental
2.1. Chemicals
Citric acid monohydrate (CA), tartaric acid, ethanediamine and
oleic acid were all analytical reagents. They were purchased from
Shanghai Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co. Ltd. (China). Quinine
sulfate (AR) was purchased from Aladdin Industrial Corporation
(Shanghai, China). Ultrapure water was prepared with a Milli-Q
system (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA). Other reagents were all ana-
lytical and were used without further purification.
2.2. Characterization of the N-CQDs
The fluorescence spectra were obtained by a Varian Cary Eclipse
Fluorescence Spectrophotometer. Transmission electron micro-
scopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) images were
recorded using FEI Tecnai G2 F20 instruments. The X-ray photo-
electron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra were recorded using a Thermo
ESCALAB 250Xi multifunctional imaging electron spectrometer. A
UV-2550 spectrophotometer was used to record the UV–vis spec-
tra. A Magna-IR 750 Fourier transform infrared spectrometer
(Nicolet) was used to record the FTIR spectra. The fluorescence
decay experiments were performed using an Edingburgh Instru-
ments FLS920 fluorescence spectrometer.
2.3. Preparation of the N-CQDs
The N-CQDs were prepared according to a simple one-step
solvothermal method reported by our group [22,23]. Typically,
CA monohydrate (1.5 g) and tartaric acid (1.5 g) were placed in a
three neck flask, and then ethanediamine (5 mL) and oleic acid
(30 mL) were added. The mixture was heated at 220 °C for
30 min under vigorous magnetic stirring. The colorless solution
changed to a clear brownish black solution as the reaction pro-
gressed. After the reaction, the solution was cooled at room tem-
perature, and then black solid precipitate was obtained directly.
The precipitate was washed sufficiently with n-hexane, dispersed
in ultrapure water and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 30 min to
remove large particles product.
3. Results and discussion
The N-CQDs were prepared by a facile solvothermal method
with oleic acid as the reaction media. The product was then char-
acterized by TEM, XPS, FTIR, UV–vis and photoluminescence spec-
trum. From the TEM image (Fig. 1A) we can find that the resulting
product has good dispersion with a narrow size distribution in the
range of 1 to 4 nm (inset of Fig. 1A). The average diameter of the N-
CQDs is about 2.66 nm. The obtained N-CQDs are amorphous as the
HRTEM images do not show any discernible lattice fringes.
There are two distinct absorbance bands centered at 239 and
351 nm (Fig. 1B). The peak at 239 nm can be ascribed to the p–
p⁄ transitions of the aromatic C@C sp2 domains which cannot pro-
duce observed fluorescence signal [24,25]. The other absorption
peak at 351 nm can be ascribed to the trapping of excited state
energy of the surface states, which can lead to strong fluorescence
[26,27]. The fluorescent spectrum for the obtained N-CQDs con-
formed to the UV–vis absorption features. Fig. 1C shows that the
emission peak remains essentially unchanged with the variation
 H. Huang et al. / Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506 (2017) 373–378
Fig. 2. The FTIR spectrum (A) and the XPS spectrum (B) of the N-CQDs. (C) and (D) are the corresponding C1s spectrum and N1s spectrum.
of excitation wavelength in the range of 320–400 nm. With the fur-
ther increase of excitation wavelength, a redshift of emission
wavelength happened. The maximum emission peak was observed
at 460 nm, at an excitation wavelength of 360 nm.
The product emitted bright blue1 color under 365 nm UV light
(Fig. 1B, inset). The fluorescence quantum yield of the obtained N-
CQDs was calculated to be 42.2% using quinine sulfate as a reference.
The FT-IR spectrum (Fig. 2A) shows a broad band around
3403 cm 1, which can be attributed to NAH and OAH stretching
vibrations. The intense peaks at 1654 and 1560 cm 1 can be
assigned to asymmetric C@O and C@N stretching vibrations. The
XPS spectrum (Fig. 2B) exhibits three peaks at 286.05, 399.87
and 532.34 eV, which can be assigned to C1s, N1s, and O1s, respec-
tively. Besides, the C1s spectrum can be fitted into four peaks at
284.67, 285.32, 285.88 and 287.64 eV (Fig. 2C), showing the pres-
ence of four types of carbon bonds: sp2 C@C or sp3 CAC, CAN or
CAO, sp2 NAC@N, and C@O. The fitting of the N1s spectrum showed
that there existed three types of nitrogen bonds: CANAC
(399.34 eV), NA(C)3 (399.82 eV), and CANAH groups (400.58 eV)
(Fig. 2C) [28]. Above characterizations indicated that the obtained
NACQDs have abundant functional groups such as hydroxyl and
amino groups due to the relatively low carbonization temperature.
These polar functional groups endowed the product with perfect
water solubility.
3.1. Selectivity and sensitivity of Hg2+ detection
The N-CQDs with a final concentration of 2.1 lg mL 1 was used
to evaluate the selectivity towards various metal ions. Different
1 Similarly, the FL intensity decreased with increasing the concentra-
For interpretation of color in Fig. 1, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.
375
metal ions (including Cr6+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, Sr2+,
Pb2+, Ba2+, Al3+, K+, Na+, Fe2+, and Hg2+) were added into the N-
CQDs solution with a final concentration of 100 lM, then the FL
spectra were recorded under excitation at 360 nm to study the
selectively. Fig. 3A shows that the FL intensity decreases remark-
ably with the addition of Hg2+, whereas other ions had negligible
or less impact on the intensity. This indicates that the obtained
N-CQDs have high selectivity towards Hg2+ ions.
In another control experiment, 30 lM of Hg2+ alone (red bars,
Fig. 3B) and the mixtures of 30 lM of Hg2+ and 30 lM of the above
mentioned metal ions (blue bars, Fig. 3B) were added into the N-
CQDs aqueous solution respectively, then the quenching effects
were examined. The interference tests show that the coexistence
of other ions only has a small or negligible effect on the fluores-
cence quenching.
The concentration experiment (Fig. 3C and D) shows that the FL
intensity decreases with the increase of Hg2+ concentration. There
exists a good linear relationship (R2 = 0.9979) between the FL
intensity and Hg2+ concentration in the range of 0–18 lM. The
limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be 83.5 nM based on
three times the standard deviation rule. It should be noted that
the obtained LOD of the as-prepared N-CQDs for Hg2+ detection
is much lower or comparable to those previously reported with
other fluorescent probes [12,29–31]. The results show that the
as-prepared N-CQDs may be useful in environmental applications
for Hg2+ detection.
The method was then used to assay the concentration of Hg2+ in
real water samples. The tap water samples obtained from our lab
without any pretreatment were spiked with Hg2+ at different con-
centration levels and then analyzed with the proposed method.
tion of Hg2+ in tap water. Good linear relationship between the PL
376 H. Huang et al. / Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506 (2017) 373–378

Fig. 3. (A) Normalized fluorescence intensity of aqueous N-CQDs solution in the presence of various metal ions. (B) Interference experiments of aqueous N-CQDs solution
towards Hg2+ (black bars) and other metal ions (red bars). (C) The dependence of FL intensity on the concentration of Hg2+ in the range of 0–30 lM. (D) The overlay
fluorescence spectra of the N-CQDs solution upon addition of various concentrations of Hg2+ (from top to bottom: 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 lM). (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

intensity and the concentration of Hg2+ ions was observed in the
range of 0–18 lM.
The sensitivity and selectivity for Hg2+ ions towards quenching
of fluorescence of the N-CQDs are possibly due to several reasons,
such as greater affinity of Hg2+ ions towards nitrogen, larger radius
of Hg2+ ions and its ability to form a stable non-fluorescent com-
plex with the N-CQDs [32]. Another possible explanation is
aggregate-induced quenching [29]. The Hg2+ ion may simultane-
ously bind to multiple nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the N-CQDs.
This complexation process may induce the formation of aggre-
gates, change the electronic structure of the N-CQDs and then lead
to non-radiative electron/hole recombination annihilation.
3.2. Detection of L-Cys
It is reported that L-Cys could react with Hg2+ due to the exis-
tence of thiol group [19,33]. The Hg2+-S bond would be formed in
the process. Thus, Hg2+ would be removed from the surface of
the N-CQDs and the fluorescence intensity would be recovered
due to avoidance of fluorescence quenching by Hg2+ species. There-
fore, the N-CQDs-Hg2+ system was explored to probe L-Cys. We
found that the quenched fluorescence of the N-CQDs was recov-
ered immediately upon the addition of L-Cys to the solution of N-
CQDs-Hg2+. The fluorescence signal stabilized after 1 min, indicat-
ing a fast recovery of the system. Several relevant amino acids
including L-Cys, L-Ser, L-Tyr, D-Asp, L-Trp, D-Trp, L-Phe and D-Phe
showed only a small or negligible recovering effect. In the control
experiment, 30 lM of L-Cys alone (black bars, Fig. 4A) and the mix-
tures of 30 lM of L-Cys and 300 lM of the above mentioned amino
acids (red bars, Fig. 4A) were added into the N-CQDs-Hg2+ aqueous
solution respectively. Then the FL recovering effects of L-Cys and
the mixtures of L-Cys and other amino acids on the N-CQDs-Hg2+
were examined. The results showed that the influence of other
coexisting amino acids was negligible. These observations indicate
that the N-CQDs-Hg2+ sensor is insensitive to other amino acids
but selective to L-Cys in the mixtures.
As shown in Fig. 4B, the FL intensity of the N-CQDs-Hg2+ at
460 nm increases gradually with the increase of L-Cys concentra-
tion, indicating that addition of L-Cys can effectively recover the
fluorescence of the N-CQDs-Hg2+. Fig. 4C shows the effect of the
amount of L-Cys on the fluorescence recovery of the system. It
can be seen that the enhancement of fluorescence is proportional
to the concentration of L-Cys in the range of 0 to 40 lM
(R2 = 0.9990). The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be
45.8 nM based on three times the standard deviation rule. This sen-
sitivity is higher than that of other reported methods [18,21,34].
The good repeatability of the sensing system can also be observed
from the calculated error bars.
3.3. Detection of I
It was reported that iodide ions can also be effectively bound to
Hg2+ to form the Hg2+-I complex. Thus, Hg2+ may be removed
from the N-CQDs-Hg2+, which makes the fluorescence increase
due to avoidance of fluorescence quenching from Hg2+ species
[30,32]. Various environmentally relevant anions, including Br ,
Cl , F , SO24 , C2O24 , Ac , CO23 , HCO3 , PO34 and I , were added into
the N-CQDs-Hg2+ solution. Significant FL recovering effect was
observed with the addition of I , while other anions showed no
or only a slighter recovered effect. In the control experiment,
90 lM of I alone (black bars, Fig. 5A) and the mixtures of 90 lM
of I and 900 lM of the above mentioned anions (red bars,
Fig. 5A) were added into the N-CQDs-Hg2+ aqueous solution
respectively, then the FL recovering effects of I and the mixtures
of I and other anions on the fluorescence of the N-CQDs-Hg2+
were examined. The results clearly show that the influence of other
coexisting anions on the FL recovering effect is negligible. These
observations further indicate that the N-CQDs-Hg2+ sensor is selec-
tive to I in the mixtures.
 H. Huang et al. / Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506 (2017) 373–378 377

Fig. 4. (A) FL intensity of aqueous N-CQDs-Hg2+ solution towards 30 lM L-Cys (black bars), and interference of 300 lM of other amino acids (red bars). (B) The dependence of
FL intensity of N-CQDs-Hg2+ on the concentrations of L-Cys in the range of 0–70 lM. (C) The overlay fluorescence spectra of the N-CQDs-Hg2+ solution upon addition of
various concentrations of L-Cys. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 5. (A) FL intensity of aqueous N-CQDs-Hg2+ solution towards 90 lM I (black bars), and interference of 900 lM of other anions (red bars). (B) The dependence of FL
intensity of N-CQDs-Hg2+ on the concentrations of I in the range of 0–110 lM. (C) The overlay fluorescence spectra of the N-CQDs-Hg2+ solution upon addition of various
concentrations of I . (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 5B shows the effect of the amount of I on the fluorescence 4. Conclusions

recovery of the system. It can be seen that the fluorescence inten-
sity of the system increases with the increase of I concentration.
Fig. 5C shows the effect of the amount of I on the fluorescence
recovery of the system. The enhancement of fluorescence is pro-
portional to the concentration of I in the range of 0–90 lM
(R2 = 0.9962). The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be
92.3 nM based on three times the standard deviation rule. This sen-
sitivity is higher than that of other reported methods [35–37]. The
good repeatability of the sensing system for the detection of I can
be observed from the calculated error bars.
Though the mechanism of ‘‘off-on” fluorescence for the
obtained N-CQDs was not entirely clear at this point, some char-
acterizations have been performed in order to deepen the under-
standing of this process. The UV–vis spectral analysis showed that
the UV–vis spectra had no significant change when Hg2+ ions were
added into the N-CQDs aqueous solutions. The intensity and posi-
tion of the absorbance bands centered at 239 and 351 nm did not
change nearly. Besides, the fluorescence decay experiments
showed that the fluorescence life time of the N-CQDs decreased
obviously in the process of fluorescence quenching with Hg2+ ions
(from 15.5 ns to 11.2 ns). These results indicated that the fluores-
cence quenching belonged to dynamic quenching process, and
electron transfer process between the excited states of the N-
CQDs with Hg2+ ions may be the main reason for fluorescence
quenching. When L-Cys or I was added into the N-CQDs-Hg2+
system, the UV–vis spectra mainly reflected the feature of
Hg2+-L-Cys or Hg2+-I complexes. So we deduced that Hg2+ ions
can be effectively carried off from the surface of the N-CQDs by
L-Cys or I , and then the fluorescence of the N-CQDs was
retrieved.
In conclusion, we have prepared highly fluorescent N-CQDs
with a quantum yield of 42.2% via a facile one-pot solvothermal
method. The as-prepared N-CQDs have been successfully used for
‘‘off-on” detection of Hg2+ and L-Cys or Hg2+ and I with high sen-
sitivity and selectivity. Hg2+ can effectively quench the fluores-
cence of the obtained N-CQDs through the charge transfer
process. Upon the addition of L-Cys or I into N-CQDs-Hg2+, the flu-
orescence can be recovered. The possible mechanism relies upon L-
Cys or I being able to effectively shelter the quenching due to the
binding of Hg2+ and L-Cys or I , which removes Hg2+ from the sur-
face of the N-CQDs. Detection limits of 83.5 nM for Hg2+, 45.8 nM
for L-Cys, and 92.3 nM for I were achieved. The established
method has a promising prospect for the detection of real samples.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Natural Science Foundation of
Fujian Province of China (Nos. 2016Y0065 and 2014J01053), Edu-
cation Bureau of Fujian Province of China (Nos. JA13195 and
JK2011030), and the College Students’ Innovative and Entrepre-
neurial Training Program (Nos. 201710402023 and
201710402071).
References
[1] E.M. Nolan, S.J. Lippard, Tools and tactics for the optical detection of mercuric
ion, Chem. Rev. 108 (2008) 3443–3480.
[2] F. Zahir, S.J. Rizwi, S.K. Haqb, R.H. Khan, Low dose mercury toxicity and human
health, Environ. Toxicol. Pharma. 20 (2005) 351–360.
378 H. Huang et al. / Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 506 (2017) 373–378
[3] L. Niu, Y. Guan, Y. Chen, L. Wu, C. Tung, Q. Yang, BODIPY-based ratiometric
fluorescent sensor for highly selective detection of glutathione over cysteine
and homocysteine, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (2012) 18928–18931.
[4] J. Zong, X. Yang, A. Trinchi, S. Hardin, I. Cole, Y. Zhu, C. Li, T. Muster, G. Wei,
Carbon dots as fluorescent probes for ‘‘off–on” detection of Cu2+ and L-cysteine
in aqueous solution, Biosens. Bioelectron. 51 (2014) 330–335.
[5] Y. Shi, Y. Pan, H. Zhang, Z. Zhang, M. Li, C. Yi, M. Yang, A dual-mode nanosensor
based on carbon quantum dots and gold nanoparticles for discriminative
detection of glutathione in human plasma, Biosens. Bioelectron. 56 (2014) 39–
45.
[6] Z. Li, Y. Wang, Y. Ni, S. Kokot, A rapid and label-free dual detection of Hg(II) and
cysteine with the use of fluorescence switching of graphene quantum dots,
Sens. Actuators B: Chem. 207 (2015) 490–497.
[7] F. Jalali, M.J. Rajabi, G. Bahrami, M. Shamsipur, Preparation of a novel iodide-
selective electrode based on iodide-miconazole ion-pair and its application to
pharmaceutical analysis, Anal. Sci. 21 (2005) 1533–1537.
[8] S.N. Baker, G.A. Baker, Luminescent carbon nanodots: emergent nanolights,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 49 (2010) 6726–6744.
[9] S.Y. Lim, W. Shen, Z. Gao, Carbon quantum dots and their applications, Chem.
Sov. Rev. 44 (2015) 362–381.
[10] Y. He, J. He, H. Zhang, Y. Liu, B. Lei, Luminescent properties and energy transfer
of luminescent carbon dots assembled mesoporous Al2O3: Eu3+ co-doped
materials for temperature sensing, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 496 (2017) 8–15.
[11] L.-P. Guo, Y. Zhang, W.-C. Li, Sustainable microalgae for the simultaneous
synthesis of carbon quantum dots for cellular imaging and porous carbon for
CO2 capture, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 493 (2017) 257–264.
[12] X. Cao, J. Ma, Y. Lin, B. Yao, F. Li, W. Weng, X. Lin, A facile microwave-assisted
fabrication of fluorescent carbon nitride quantum dots and their application in
the detection of mercury ions, Spectrochim. Acta Part A 151 (2015) 875–880.
[13] O.S. Wolfbeis, An overview of nanoparticles commonly used in fluorescent
bioimaging, Chem. Sov. Rev. 44 (2015) 4743–4768.
[14] G. Xu, S. Zeng, B. Zhang, M.T. Swihart, K.-T. Yong, P.N. Prasad, New generation
cadmium-free quantum dots for biophotonics and nanomedicine, Chem. Rev.
116 (2016) 12234–12327.
[15] F.R. Baptista, S.A. Belhout, S. Giordani, S.J. Quinn, Recent developments in
carbon nanomaterial sensors, Chem. Soc. Rev. 44 (2015) 4433–4453.
[16] G. Hong, S. Diao, A.L. Antaris, H. Dai, Carbon nanomaterials for biological
imaging and nanomedicinal therapy, Chem. Rev. 115 (2015) 10816–10906.
[17] X. Sun, Y. Lei, Fluorescent carbon dots and their sensing applications, Trends in
Anal. Chem. 89 (2017) 163–180.
[18] X. Xu, J. Qiao, N. Li, L. Qi, S. Zhang, Fluorescent probe for turn-on sensing of L-
cysteine by ensemble of AuNCs and polymer protected AuNPs, Anal. Chim.
Acta 879 (2015) 97–103.
[19] F. Li, J. Wang, Y. Lai, C. Wu, S. Sun, Y. He, H. Ma, Ultrasensitive and selective
detection of copper (II) and mercury (II) ions by dye-coded silver nanoparticle-
based SERS probes, Biosens. Bioelectron. 39 (2013) 82–87.
[20] M. Amjadi, Z. Abolghasemi-Fakhri, T. Hallaj, Carbon dots-silver nanoparticles
fluorescence resonance energy transfer system as a novel turn-on fluorescent
probe for selective determination of cysteine, J. Photoch. Photobio A 309
(2015) 8–14.
[21] L. Lin, X. Song, Y. Chen, M. Rong, Y. Wang, L. Zhao, T. Zhao, X. Chen, Europium-
decorated graphene quantum dots as a fluorescent probe for label-free, rapid
and sensitive detection of Cu2+ and L-cysteine, Anal. Chim. Acta 891 (2015)
261–268.
[22] Y. Lin, B. Yao, T. Huang, S. Zhang, X. Cao, W. Weng, Selective determination of
free dissolved chlorine using nitrogen-doped carbon dots as a fluorescent
probe, Microchim. Acta 183 (2016) 2221–2227.
[23] J. Ma, B. Guo, X. Cao, Y. Lin, B. Yao, F. Li, W. Weng, L. Huang, One-pot fabrication
of hollow cross-linked fluorescent carbon nitride nanoparticles and their
application in the detection of mercuric ions, Talanta 143 (2015) 205–211.
[24] Y. Dong, H. Pang, H. Yang, C. Guo, J. Shao, Y. Chi, C. Li, T. Yu, Carbon-based dots
co-doped with nitrogen and sulfur for high quantum yield and excitation-
independent emission, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52 (2013) 7800–7804.
[25] G. Eda, Y.-Y. Lin, C. Mattevi, H. Yamaguchi, H.-A. Chen, I.-S. Chen, C.-W. Chen,
M. Chhowalla, Blue photoluminescence from chemically derived graphene
oxide, Adv. Mater. 22 (2010) 505–509.
[26] P. Anilkumar, X. Wang, L. Cao, S. Sahu, J.-H. Liu, P. Wang, K. Korch, K.N. Tackett
II, A. Parenzan, Y.-P. Sun, Toward quantitatively fluorescent carbon-based
‘‘quantum” dots, Nanoscale 3 (2011) 2023–2027.
[27] X. Wang, L. Cao, S.-T. Yang, F. Lu, M.J. Meziani, L. Tian, K.W. Sun, M.A.
Bloodgood, Y.-P. Sun, Bandgap-like strong fluorescence in functionalized
carbon nanoparticles, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 49 (2010) 5310–5314.
[28] L. Lin, M. Rong, S. Lu, X. Song, Y. Zhong, J. Yan, Y. Wang, X. Chen, A facile
synthesis of highly luminescent nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots for
the detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol in aqueous solution, Nanoscale 7 (2015)
1872–1878.
[29] B. Wang, S. Zhuo, L. Chen, Y. Zhang, Fluorescent graphene quantum dot
nanoprobes for the sensitive and selective detection of mercury ions,
Spectrochim. Acta Part A 131 (2014) 384–387.
[30] R. Zhang, W. Chen, Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots: facile synthesis and
application as a ‘‘turn-off” fluorescent probe for detection of Hg2+ ions,
Biosens. Bioelectron. 55 (2014) 83–90.
[31] A. Alam, A. Ravindran, P. Chandran, S.S. Khan, Highly selective colorimetric
detection and estimation of Hg2+ at nano-molar concentration by silver
nanoparticles in the presence of glutathione, Spectrochim. Acta Part A 137
(2015) 503–508.
[32] S. Barman, M. Sadhukhan, Facile bulk production of highly blue fluorescent
graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots and their application as highly selective
and sensitive sensors for the detection of mercuric and iodide ions in aqueous
media, J. Mater. Chem. 22 (2012) 21832–21837.
[33] Q. Li, Y. Guo, S. Shao, A BODIPY based fluorescent chemosensor for Cu(II) ions
and homocysteine/cysteine, Sens. Actuators B: Chem. 171–172 (2012) 872–
877.
[34] L. Wang, J. Du, D. Cao, A colorimetric fluorescent chemodosimeter based
ondiketopyrrolopyrrole and 1,3-indanedione for cysteine detection
andcellular imaging in living cells, Sens. Actuators B: Chem. 205 (2012)
281–288.
[35] Z. Kormosh, T. Savchuk, New potentiometric sensor for the determination of
iodine species, Mater. Sci. Eng. C 32 (2012) 2286–2291.
[36] W. Lin, L. Yuan, X. Cao, B. Chen, Y. Feng, A fluorescence turn-on probe for iodide
based on the redox reaction between cupric and iodide, Sens. Actuators B:
Chem. 138 (2009) 637–641.
[37] A.K. Mahapatra, J. Roy, P. Sahoo, S.K. Mukhopadhyay, A. Chattopadhyay,
Carbazole–thiosemicarbazone–Hg(II) ensemble-based colorimetric and
fluorescence turn-on toward iodide in aqueous media and its application in
live cell imaging, Org. Biomol. Chem. 10 (2012) 2231–2236.