Ratiometric fluorescence probe based on carbon dots and p-phenylenediamine-derived nanoparticles for the sensitive detection of manganese ions.

A ratiometric fluorescence probe based on carbon quantum dots with 420 nm emission (bCQDs) and a p-phenylenediamine-derived fluorescence probe with 550 nm emission (yprobe) is constructed for the detection of Mn. The presence of Mn results in the enhanced absorption band at 400 nm of yprobe, and the fluorescence of yprobe is significantly enhanced based on the chelation-enhanced fluorescence mechanism. The fluorescence of bCQDs is then quenched based on the inner filtration effect. The ratio (I/I) linearly increases with the increase of Mn concentration within 2.00 × 10-1.50 × 10 M, and the limit of detection is 1.76 × 10 M. Given the fluorescence color changing from blue to yellow, the visual sensing of Mn is feasible based on bCQDs/yprobe coupled with RGB value analysis. The practicability of the proposed method has been verified in tap water, lake water, and sparkling water beverage, indicating that bCQDs/yprobe has promising application in Mn monitoring.