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Detection of cholesterol and uric acid biomarkers is of great importance for clinical diagnosis of several serious diseases correlated with their variations in human blood serum. In this study, a new kind of well selective and highly sensitive ratiometric fluorescent probe for cholesterol and uric acid determination in human blood serum was innovatively developed on the basis of the inner filter effect (IFE) process of nitrogen, cobalt co-doped carbon dots (N,Co-CDs) with 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP). DAP was the oxidative product during the oxidation reaction between o -phenylenediamine and H 2 O 2 . Fluorescent magnetic N,Co-CDs possessing blue emission and magnetic property were prepared through a facile one-pot hydrothermal strategy by using citric acid, diethylenetriamine, and cobalt(II) chloride hexahydrate as precursors. N,Co-CDs exhibited good ferromagnetic property and excellent optical properties even in extremely harsh environmental conditions, implying the huge potential applications of such N,Co-CDs in biological areas. On the basis of the IFE process between N,Co-CDs and DAP, N,Co-CDs were applied to establish ratiometric fluorescent probes for the indirect detection of cholesterol and uric acid that participated in enzyme-catalyzed H 2 O 2 -generation reactions. The established IFE-based fluorescent probes exhibited relatively low detection limits of 3.6 nM for cholesterol and 3.4 nM for uric acid, respectively. The fluorescent probe was successfully utilized for the determination of cholesterol and uric acid in human blood serum with satisfying results, which provided an informed perspective on the applications of such doped CDs to explore the specific and sensitive nanoprobe in disease diagnoses and clinical therapy.

The exceptional nature of WO3−x dots has inspired widespread interest, but it is still a significant challenge to synthesize high‐quality WO3−x dots without using unstable reactants, expensive equipment, and complex synthetic processes. Herein, the synthesis of ligand‐free WO3−x dots is reported that are highly dispersible and rich in oxygen vacancies by a simple but straightforward exfoliation of bulk WS2 and a mild follow‐up chemical conversion. Surprisingly, the WO3−x dots emerged as co‐reactants for the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of Ru(bpy)32+ with a comparable ECL efficiency to the well‐known Ru(bpy)32+/tripropylamine (TPrA) system. Moreover, compared to TPrA, whose toxicity remains a critical issue of concern, the WO3−x dots were ca. 300‐fold less toxic. The potency of WO3−x dots was further explored in the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) with the most competitive limit of detection so far.

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The development of electrochemiluminescent (ECL) emitters with both intense ECL and excellent film-forming properties is highly desirable for biosensing applications. Herein, a facile one-pot preparation strategy was proposed for the synthesis of a self-enhanced ECL emitter by co-doping Ru­(bpy)3 2+ and (diethylaminomethyl)­triethoxysilane (DEAMTES) into an in situ-produced silica nanohybrid (DEAMTES@RuSiO2). DEAMTES@RuSiO2 not only possessed improved ECL properties but also exhibited outstanding film-forming ability, which are both critical for the construction of ECL biosensors. By coupling branched catalytic hairpin assembly with efficient signal amplification peculiarity, a label-free ECL biosensor was further constructed for the convenient and highly sensitive detection of miRNA-21. The as-fabricated ECL biosensor displayed a detection limit of 8.19 fM, much lower than those in previous reports for miRNA-21 and showed superior reliability for detecting miRNA-21-spiked human serum sample, demonstrating its potential for applications in miRNA-associated fundamental research and clinical diagnosis.