Rapid Preparation of Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Pine Needles for Chemical Analysis

Abstract

Fluorescent carbon dots with blue, green, and red emissions were rapidly prepared from modified pine needles through microwave irradiation in a one-pot reaction. The fluorescence intensity and emission versatility for a carbon source were experimentally optimized. The reaction times were under 10 min and the reaction temperatures were lower than 220 °C. Potential applications of magnetic fluorescence-linked immunoassays of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were presented. The detection limits for CEA and TNF-α (3.1 and 2.8 pg mL−1, respectively) are lower than those presented in other reports, whereas the linear ranges for CEA and TNF-α (9 pg mL−1 to 18 ng mL−1 and 8.5 pg mL−1 to 17 ng mL−1, respectively) are wider than those presented in other reports. Magnetic immunoassays with fluorescent CDs prepared from pine needles can enable rapid, sensitive, and selective detections for biochemical analysis.

Composites of Gold Nanostars and Nitrogen- and Sulfur-Codoped Graphene Quantum Dots as Plasmon-Enhanced Immunosensors for Cancer Prognosis

“…To date, plenty of materials have been applied as a fluorophore for CEA detection. Still, low-dimensional nanomaterials, such as carbon dots or graphene quantum dots (GQDs), , inorganic quantum dots, , silica-based beads, metal–organic frameworks, and noble metals, have showcased superior optical properties. In recent years, persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) have been incorporated into CEA detection to enhance the limit of detection (LOD) because the photon lifetime of the PLNPs is longer than that of the typical fluorescence (FL). , However, the LOD is still at the scale of picograms per milliliter because the resolution is limited by the lifetime of the photon.…”