Comparative study of Cl,N-Cdots and N-Cdots and application for trinitrophenol and ClO− sensor and cell-imaging

Abstract To understand the effect of Cl doping in carbon dots, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-Cdots) and nitrogen and chlorine dual-doped carbon dots (Cl,N-Cdots) were fabricated by high-temperature carbonization and low-temperature concentrated acid (HCl) acidification of dried shaddock peel, respectively. The quantum yield of Cl,N-Cdots is about four times of that of N-Cdots and the size of Cl,N-Cdots is smaller than that of N-Cdots. Furthermore, since trinitrophenol (PA) and ClO- could effectively quench the fluorescence of Cl,N-Cdots, the fluorescence sensors for determining PA and ClO- was constructed, respectively. The linear range of PA and ClO- are 0.9-90 μM and 3.24-216 μM with the limit of detection of 37.1 nM and 2.88 μM, respectively. The proposed sensor was used to detect PA in Taiyuan tap water, Wutai tap water, Wutai rain water and Wutai river water samples with encouraging results. The as-constructed sensor was also used to detect ClO- in Taiyuan tap water and commercial disinfectants. Last but not least, Cl,N-Cdots was employed as an agent for A549 and HeLa cell-imaging, possessing optimal imaging effect and ultra-low cytotoxicity. Our results suggested that Cl,N-Cdots has promising applications in sensing, water monitoring, commodity supervision and cell-imaging.