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Red-emission carbon dots as fluorescent “on–off–on” probe for highly sensitive and selective detection of Cu2+ and glutathione

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Abstract

A highly sensitive and selective fluorescent “on–off–on” strategy is established for the synchronous detection of Cu2+ and glutathione in aqueous solution. Red carbon dots (R-CDs) were prepared by using precursors of 4,5-difluoro-1,2-phenylenediamine and citric acid via a one-step hydrothermal strategy. R-CDs show a relatively long fluorescence lifetime of 3.47 ns under 455 nm excitation and high absolute fluorescent quantum yield of 20.1% with an excitation wavelength of 550 nm. R-CDs exhibit a marked pH-responsive fluorescence property with no significant perturbation from pH 4 to pH 13 even after five cycles. R-CDs with higher concentration of 750 μg·mL−1 exhibit no significant cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility on HeLa cells and A549 cells after incubation for 48 h. The fluorescence of R-CDs at 619 nm (excited at 550 nm) is quenched statically by Cu2+ and recovered by glutathione subsequently, resulting in a fluorescent “on–off–on” assay for the synchronous detection of Cu2+ and glutathione. Under optimal conditions, the linear response covers the Cu2+ concentration range of 1 to 50 μM and the glutathione concentration range of 1 to 70 μM. Detection limits of Cu2+ and glutathione are 0.16 and 0.41 μM, respectively. This fluorescent probe is applied to the determination of Cu2+ and glutathione in authentic samples with satisfying results. Such an assay broadens the potential application of CDs in environmental areas and clinical therapy fields.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21763005, 21864006, 22164014), Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province (2017GXNSFDA198034, 2017GXNSFFA198005, 2021GXNSFAA075015), Thousands of Young Teachers Training Program of Guangxi Province (guijiaoren[2018]18), and BAGUI Scholar Program of Guangxi Province of China.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. The authors declare that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines of China (WS/T 225–2002). Informed consent was obtained from human subjects. The authors declare that all human urine and human serum studies were approved by the ethics committee of Nanning Normal University and were performed in accordance with the ethical standards.

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  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Natural Polymer Chemistry and Physics, College of Chemistry and Materials, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, 530001, China

    Gan Ning, Bo Li, Jiajia Liu, Qi Xiao & Shan Huang

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  1. Gan Ning
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Ning, G., Li, B., Liu, J. et al. Red-emission carbon dots as fluorescent “on–off–on” probe for highly sensitive and selective detection of Cu2+ and glutathione. Anal Bioanal Chem 414, 2219–2233 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03859-7

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