Abstract
Excessive usage and discharge of phthalic acid in the environment affect endocrine system of living beings via bioaccumulation in food chain. In this paper, boron and nitrogen co-doped yellow fluorescent carbon dots (B, N-C-dots) have been designed for the rapid recognition of plasticizer phthalic acid. These C-dots were prepared by carbonization of 4-bromo-1,2-diaminobenzene and boric acid mixture. The bright fluorescence (PLQY = 26.4 %) of C-dots showed a significant Stokes shift of 145 nm under 430 nm excitation wavelength. These B, N-C-dots selectively detect phthalic acid in aqueous solution instantaneously and experienced a maximum 95 % fluorescence quenching immediately upon the treatment with phthalic acid with a limit of detection of 91.12 nM. It has been proved that the combined effect of strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding, chemical conjugation, and non-fluorescent ground state complex formation between the probe and analyte led to fluorescence quenching of the C-dots. Static quenching has been confirmed from changes in B, N-C-dots UV–vis absorbance spectroscopy and non-changes in fluorescence lifetime after adding phthalic acid. Furthermore, these B, N-C-dots were successfully applied to recover the analyte in real water samples and showed an average recovery rate of 96.4–102 % with a good relative standard deviation from spiked samples. This study provides selective recognition ability in the field of environmental monitoring and remediation.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 114489 |
Journal | Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry |
Volume | 437 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Mar 2023 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- B, N-C-dots
- Detection mechanism
- Fluorescence quenching
- Phthalic acid selective detection
- Plasticizers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering
- General Physics and Astronomy