Reversible "Off-On" Fluorescence of Zn2+-Passivated Carbon Dots: Mechanism and Potential for the Detection of EDTA and Zn2.
Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
confidence
Key findings
Synthesis of Zn2+-passivated carbon dots (Z-CDs) for reversible 'off-on' fluorescence detection of EDTA and Zn2+; no clinical/biological endpoints reported.
View source on PubMed (PMID 29886743) ↗
- Sample size
- Not reported
- Population
- In vitro (carbon dots synthesis and application in tap water and cell imaging)
- Dosing
- Not reported
- Duration
- Not reported
- Route
- Not reported
- Blinding
- not_reported
- Controls
- not_reported
- Drug class
- essential mineral
Full abstract
Zn2+-passivated carbon dots (named Z-CDs) were synthesized from zinc gluconate for the first time through a one-step pyrolysis treatment. The mechanism of Zn2+-enhanced fluorescence was carefully investigated, and a new strategy to passivate the surfaces of CDs by Zn2+ was proposed. Inspired by the complexation reaction between Zn2+ and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), a reversible "off-on" fluorescent nanosensor for the detection of EDTA and Zn2+ was constructed based on the depassivation and repassivation of Z-CDs, with a limit of detection as low as 3.2 × 10-7 M and 5.1 × 10-7 M, respectively. The proposed Z-CD-based nanosensor had been further utilized for EDTA and Zn2+ monitoring in tap water with excellent recovery. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first report of a fluorescence-based sensor of EDTA and a turn-on sensor of Zn2+ based on CDs with reversible detection capability. Also, benefiting from the low toxicity of zinc, Z-CDs were applied for multicolor bioimaging and in vitro detection in cells.