Facile Synthesis of Green Fluorescent Carbon Dots and Application for Iron (III) Detection, Patterning and Cell Imaging.

Carbon dots (CDs) as a novel type of nanomaterials have attracted significant attention in various scientific communities because of their excellent fluorescence. Herein, green fluorescent CDs (G-CDs) were obtained using one-pot hydrothermal treatment of Lonicera maackii fruit and exhibited excellent fluorescence characteristic and good bio-compatibility. The assynthesized G-CDs displayed strong green fluorescence, which was specifically quenched by Fe3+. And we develop a method for excellent sensitive and selective detection of Fe3+ with a linear range of 0.1-10 μM and a limit of detection of 0.08 μM. The method was further extended to measure the concentration of Fe3+ in actual water samples which the result is satisfactory. The synthesized G-CDs were applied for drawing fluorescent patterns, which may be used for anti-counterfeit. Finally, the prepared G-CDs were used in cell imaging and detection of Fe3+ in live cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]