“…Both excess and deficiency of Fe 3+ can destabilize cellular homeostasis and lead to various diseases, such as iron deficiency anemia (IDA), arthritis, liver injury, renal failure, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and even cancers. − Hence, determination of Fe 3+ is key to the early diagnosis of these diseases. Among various detection strategies, fluorescence-based methods have attracted increased attention because of their high sensitivity, diverse selectivity, and easy operation. − Over the last few decades, rhodamine B (RhB) and its derivatives have been used for Fe 3+ detection owing to their photophysical properties, such as high molar extinction coefficient and inertness to pH, as well as high fluorescence quantum yield. − However, RhB-based sensors intrinsically suffer from poor selectivity and low photostability as a result of interference with other trivalent metal ions, especially Cr 3+ , and tedious functional group modification, as well as short fluorescence lifetime. , To overcome the shortcomings of organic dye-based detection of Fe 3+ , some researchers developed inorganic nanoparticle-based sensors, such as carbon dots (CDs) and semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs). − These inorganic nanoscale dots possess outstanding properties, including good photostability, excellent biocompatibility, and cell membrane permeability based on their small size, tunable surface functionality, and long-term resistance to photobleaching. Despite the highly anticipated potential of these nanosensors, some issues, including short-wavelength emission, small Stokes shift, low quantum yield, and poor selectivity, have limited their applications in Fe 3+ detection.…”