Green-synthesized, pH-stable and biocompatible carbon nanosensor for Fe3+: An experimental and computational study

Savan K Raj; Babita Choudhary; Anshul Yadav; Rajesh Patidar; Avinash Mishra; Vaibhav Kulshrestha

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09259

Green-synthesized, pH-stable and biocompatible carbon nanosensor for Fe³⁺: An experimental and computational study

Heliyon. 2022 Apr 7;8(4):e09259. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09259. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Authors

Savan K Raj^{1

2}, Babita Choudhary¹, Anshul Yadav¹, Rajesh Patidar³, Avinash Mishra¹, Vaibhav Kulshrestha¹

Affiliations

¹ CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Gijubhai Badheka Marg, Bhavnagar 364 002, Gujarat, India.
² Department of Physics, The MK Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar 364 002, Gujarat, India.
³ CSIR-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute, Hoshangabad Road, Near Habibganj Naka, Bhopal 462026, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Abstract

Brightly fluorescent Carbon Dots (CDs) were synthesized by green hydrothermal method using commonly available biomass (Aloe vera) as carbon precursor. Their physiochemical and optical characterization was done by standard microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Photophysical features of their aqueous dispersion were investigated in detail. The influence of wide pH range (2-12), high ionic load (2M) and temperature on their photoluminescence behavior was investigated. Their in-vitro cytotoxicity examination was conducted on Human Cervical Cancer Cells (HeLa) using MTT assay. Testing of their ion-recognition property for common metal ions was done in aqueous medium. These CDs exhibited preferential interaction with Fe³⁺ over other tested metal ions, without any functionalization. Interaction between CDs and Fe³⁺ was analyzed in the light of Density Functional Theory (DFT). The work demonstrates that these CDs are acting as nanoprobe for Fe³⁺ and sensing it at ultra-trace level (5 nM).

Keywords: Carbon dots; Iron; Nanosensor; Photoluminescence; Quenching.