Synthesis of Carbon dots from Biomass Chenpi for the Detection of Hg2+.

Biomass-derived carbon dots (C-dots) are considered a very important carbon material in metal ion detection of their small environmental impact, simple preparation process, and relatively low cost. A green approach for synthesizing biomass-derived C-dots from Chenpi using a hydrothermal method without further processing is proposed in the present study. The as-synthesized C-dots show excellent fluorescence properties, superior resistance to UV irradiation photobleaching, and high photostability in salt-containing solutions. The C-dots were used in the form of label-free fluorescent probes for sensitively detecting Hg²⁺ selectively. The outcome relationship behaved linearly and was established based on a given range between 10-300 nM concentration, with a detection limit of 7.0 nM. This green strategy obtains a high C-dot quantum yield of 10.8% and satisfactory results in detecting Hg²⁺ in actual water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]