Highly luminescent nitrogen‐doped carbon dots for simultaneous determination of chlortetracycline and sulfasalazine

Here, we have presented a green and facile strategy to fabricate nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) and their applications for determination of chlortetracycline (CTC) and sulfasalazine (SSZ). The fluorescent N-CDs, prepared by one-step hydrothermal reaction of citric acid and l-arginine, manifested numerous excellent features containing strong blue fluorescence, good water-solubility, narrow size distribution, and a high fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of 38.8%. Based on the fluorescence quenching effects, the as-synthesized N-CDs as a fluorescent nanosensor exhibited superior analytical performances for quantifying CTC and SSZ. The linear range for CTC was calculated to be from 0.85 to 20.38 μg ml−1 with a low detection limit of 0.078 μg ml−1. Meanwhile, the linear range for SSZ was estimated to be from 0.34 to 6.76 μg ml−1 with a low detection limit of 0.032 μg ml−1. Therefore, the N-CDs hold admirable application potential for constructing a fluorescent sensor for pharmaceutical analysis.