A highly water-soluble hydrogen-bond-induced emission carbon dots for ratiometric fluorescent detection of water content in organic solvents

Yanfei Jia; Bing Han; Xiao-Ting Liu; Yuhao Liu; Yuanqiang Sun; Chao Lu

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125567

A highly water-soluble hydrogen-bond-induced emission carbon dots for ratiometric fluorescent detection of water content in organic solvents

Talanta. 2024 Apr 1:270:125567. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125567. Epub 2023 Dec 22.

Authors

Yanfei Jia¹, Bing Han¹, Xiao-Ting Liu², Yuhao Liu¹, Yuanqiang Sun³, Chao Lu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Green Catalysis Center and College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
² Green Catalysis Center and College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China. Electronic address: liuxiaoting@zzu.edu.cn.
³ Green Catalysis Center and College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China. Electronic address: sunyq@zzu.edu.cn.
⁴ Green Catalysis Center and College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China; State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China. Electronic address: luchao@mail.buct.edu.cn.

PMID: 38171237
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125567

Abstract

Water in organic solvents is a prevalent impurity that significantly influences chemical reactions and industrial processes. Carbon dots (CDs) gained attention as promising tools for chemosensing due to their advantageous characteristics, including easy synthesis, cost-effectiveness, and excellent adjustability and stability. However, limited solubility in water and turn off fluorescence response mode hinder the practical utilization of CDs for water sensing. To tackle such dilemma, a highly water-soluble CDs with distinctive hydrogen-bond-induced emission (HBIE) was rationally designed through introducing sulfone group into the widely employed p-phenylenediamine precursor. The inclusion of sulfone group imparts the CDs with notable water solubility, as well as distinctive ratiometric fluorescent response towards water content, exhibiting high sensitivity and selectivity. Upon exposure to water, the emission color of CDs undergoes a real-time transition from blue to yellow-green, which can be readily discerned by naked eyes. The CDs have been successfully applied in detecting water in commercially available alcohol. This study presents a straightforward yet efficacious approach for rationally design of CDs with unique HBIE characteristics and ratiometric fluorescent response, offering great potential for practical chemosensing applications.

Keywords: Carbon dots; Hydrogen-bond-induced emission; Ratiometric fluorescence; Water content.