Phenyl doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for sensing of copper ions in living cells.

Copper (Cu) is a vital mental element for human and animals. Monitoring and evaluating the concentration level of Cu2+ in biological body is an effective way to prevent a variety of diseases. In this work, phenyl doped graphitic carbon nitride (PDCN) nanosheets with strong green fluorescence exhibited a sensitive and selective detection for Cu2+ with linear range from 0.1-2 μmol L-1. Furthermore, fluorescent imaging was applied to semiquantitatively detect Cu2+ in HeLa cells using PDCN nanosheets as the probe, which can avoid the interference of background autofluorescence. This work provided a low-cost and biological friendly fluorescent probe to monitor the concentration level of Cu2+ in living cell.