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Highly Blue-fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots Obtained from Medlar Seed for Hg2+ Determination in Real Water Samples

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Abstract

The carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have been prepared from medlar seeds with pyrolysis method in an oven at 300 °C. UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used in the characterization of CQDs. CQDs, give a strong blue fluorescence under UV lamp (at 365 nm), have a quantum yield of 12.2%. The influence of metal ions such as K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Be2+, Cr3+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Ag+, Hg2+, and Al3+ on the fluorescence properties of the CQDs was investigated by means of emission spectrophotometry. CQDs altering fluorescence characteristics depending on the excitation wavelength show selectivity for Hg2+ ions with outstanding fluorescence quenching among the tested metal ions. Based on these results, a new fluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of Hg2+ in real water samples. The linear range of method is 1.0 to 5.0 mgL− 1. Limit of detection and limit of quantification are 0.26 and 0.79 mgL− 1, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully used in determination of Hg2+ ions in tap, sea, and stream water samples with application of addition-recovery experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, 61080, Turkey

    Nurhayat Özbek, Ender Çekirge, Miraç Ocak & Ümmühan Turgut Ocak

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  1. Nurhayat Özbek
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  2. Ender Çekirge
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  3. Miraç Ocak
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Nurhayat Özbek, Miraç Ocak, and Ümmühan Turgut Ocak wrote the main manuscript text and Ender Çekirge prepared all figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ümmühan Turgut Ocak.

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Özbek, N., Çekirge, E., Ocak, M. et al. Highly Blue-fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots Obtained from Medlar Seed for Hg2+ Determination in Real Water Samples. J Fluoresc (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-023-03463-1

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