Ciguatoxin (CTX) detection methods are essential due to the serious hazard that bioaccumulation in fish and transmission along the food chain poses to human health. We report the rapid and simple development of a dual-emitting, molecularly imprinted, ratiometric fluorescence sensor (MIPs@BCDs/RCDs@SiO2) to detect ciguatoxin P-CTX-3C with high sensitivity and selectivity. The sensor was fabricated via sol-gel polymerization using monensin as the fragmentary dummy template molecule, blue carbon dots (BCDs) as the response signal, and red carbon dots (RCDs) as the reference signal. The fluorescence emission of BCDs was selectively quenched in the presence of P-CTX-3C, leading to a favorable linear correlation between the fluorescence intensity ratio (I440/I675) and the P-CTX-3C concentration in the range of 0.001-1 ng/mL with a lower detection limit of 3.3 × 10-4 ng/mL. According to LC-MS measurement results, the proposed sensor can rapidly detect ciguatoxin P-CTX-3C in coral reef fish samples with satisfactory recoveries and standard deviations. This study provides a promising strategy for rapid trace analysis of marine toxins and other macromolecular pollutants in complex matrices.
Keywords: P-CTX-3C; carbon dots; fragmentary dummy template; molecular imprinting; ratiometric fluorescence sensor.