Hybrid Cadmium Tellurium Quantum Dots for Rapid Visualization of Trace-Level Nitroaromatic Explosives

Instant detection of trace-level nitroaromatic explosives is highly desirable for national security and environmental protection. In this paper, a new strategy for the construction of nitroaromatic-indicator paper was proposed based on a mixture of red emitting cysteamine modified cadmium telluride quantum dots and green emitting thioglycollic acid capped cadmium telluride quantum dots which served as the nitroaromatic sensor and reference probes, respectively. Nitroaromatic-indicator paper showed excellent response to trinitrotoluene and picric acid with visual detection limits of 1.59 and 1.16 ng mm−2. The screening process was accomplished within half a minute. The visualization of the nitroaromatic-indicating paper was significantly enhanced when the green reference probe was used as the background. Therefore, a rapid, simple, convenient, and high selectivity paper sensor was developed for nitroaromatics.