Fluorometric determination of hydroquinone by using blue emitting N/S/P-codoped carbon dots

Yongping Wang; Qiaoli Yue; Lixia Tao; Cong Zhang; Chen-Zhong Li

doi:10.1007/s00604-018-3082-1

Fluorometric determination of hydroquinone by using blue emitting N/S/P-codoped carbon dots

Mikrochim Acta. 2018 Nov 15;185(12):550. doi: 10.1007/s00604-018-3082-1.

Authors

Yongping Wang¹, Qiaoli Yue², Lixia Tao¹, Cong Zhang¹, Chen-Zhong Li^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China.
² Department of Chemistry, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China. yueqiaoli@yahoo.com.
³ Department of Chemistry, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China. licz@fiu.edu.
⁴ Nanobioengineering/Bioelectronics Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33174, USA. licz@fiu.edu.

PMID: 30443788
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-018-3082-1

Abstract

N/S/P-codoped carbon dots (CDs) are shown to be a viable fluorescent probe in a turn-off-on fluorometric assay for hydroquinone (HQ). The preparation of CDs was carried out using a one-step hydrothermal reaction starting with glyoxal and isocarbophos. The method is based on the formation of ground state complexes between CD and Fe(III) which leads to quenching of blue fluorescence (with excitation/emission peaks at 363/448 nm). On addition of HQ, it will be oxidized by Fe(III) upon which fluorescence recovers. This turn-off-on system can be utilized to quantify HQ. A linear relationship exists between fluorescence recovery and HQ concentration in range between 0.56 and 375 μM. The limit of detection is 0.16 μM. The assay was successfully applied to the determination of HQ in spiked water samples and developer samples. Graphical abstract Fluorometric determination of hydroquinone (with good selectivity over catechol and resorcinol) by using blue-emitting N/S/P-codoped carbon dots and the quenching effect of Fe(III).

Keywords: 1,4-dihydroxybenzene; Blue emission; Carbon dots; Developer samples; Fe(III); Fluorescence turn-off-on system; Glyoxal; Heteroatoms; Hydrothermal reaction; Water samples.