A Hydrothermal Method to Generate Carbon Quantum Dots from Waste Bones and Their Detection of Laundry Powder

Abstract

Surfactants are one of the major pollutants in laundry powder, which have an impact on the environment and human health. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are spherical zero-dimensional fluorescent nanoparticles with great potential for fluorescent probing, electrochemical biosensing and ion sensing. Herein, a bottom-up approach was developed for the synthesis of CQDs from biomass to detect laundry detergent and laundry powder. Waste chicken bones were used as carbon precursors after being dried, crushed and reacted with pure water at 180 °C for 4 h to generate CQDs, which exhibited a monodisperse quasi-spherical structure with an average particle size of 3.2 ± 0.2 nm. Functional groups, including -OH, C=O, C=C and C-O, were identified on the surface of the prepared CQDs. The optimal fluorescence excitation wavelength of the yellow-brown CQDs was 380 nm, with a corresponding emission peak at 465 nm. CQDs did not significantly increase cell death in multiple cell lines at concentrations of 200 µg·mL−1. Fluorescence enhancement of CQDs was observed after addition of sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate, a major anionic surfactant in laundry powder. A linear relationship between fluorescence enhancement CQDs and the concentration of laundry powder was established. Thus, a hydrothermal method was developed to generate CQDs from waste biomass that may be used as a fluorescent probe to detect laundry powder.

A true biomass standout: Preparation and application of biomass-derived carbon quantum dots

“…Under certain circumstances, they can form stable quantum dot complexes with amino acids, metals ions, and other coordination, and some of the binding is reversible. This property of biomass CQDs can be used as a fluorescence sensing probe (Kang et al 2020;Ye et al 2022).…”

An overview on animal/human biomass-derived carbon dots for optical sensing and bioimaging applications

“…Meanwhile, the fluorescence intensity of doped CDs synthesized from different animal/human sources such as Bombyx mori silk, 141 bee pollen, 167,172 chicken cartilage, 217 and human hair 243 was barely affected by temperature, while doped CDs derived from cow milk, 198 expired milk, 202 pork liver, 213 chicken bone, 218 and cow manure 219 showed temperature-dependent PL behavior. For example, the decreasing trend of PL intensity with an increase in temperature (27–77 °C) for cow milk-derived N-CDs was attributed to the thermal activation of non-radiative trapping sites, which resulted in an increase in non-radiative relaxation at elevated temperatures.…”

“…The recovery rates (85.2–106%) and RSDs (1.01–5.3%) of the sensor in spiked water samples (mineral/tap/river water) showed its applicability in real water systems. 218…”

“…5.1.7 Birds and animal body parts as a carbon source. Birds and animal body parts such as goose/pigeon/chicken/hen feathers, 134,205,206,207 pig skin, 208,209 pork, 210 pig skin collagen, 211 pork rib bones, 212 pork liver, 213 chicken drumstick, 214 animal bones, 215 inner wall of chicken stomach (Galli Gigerii Endothelium Corneum, GGEC), 216 chicken cartilage, 217 and chicken bones 218 are consumed for the preparation of heteroatom-containing CDs using various synthetic methods (Table 1). Noticeably, the effective self-doping of Ca element can be seen from animal bones-derived CDs; however, QYs are not as high as that in other animal body part-synthesized CDs (Table 1).…”

Microwave-assisted synthesis, characterization and in vitro biomedical applications of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn.-mediated carbon quantum dots

“…This variation depends on the synthetic method and the source of carbon precursor used 10 . The size, shape, functional groups and surface doping of CQDs play a crucial role in determining their optical properties such as light absorption, light emission as well as their efficiency in multiphoton up-conversion and down-conversion 11 . Generally, the CQDs’ surface contain oxygenated functional groups like hydroxyl, carboxylic acid, carbonyls and epoxy groups 12 , which is responsible for biocompatibility and good solubility of CQDs by imparting them polarity.…”