Zhen Lin

In this work, chemiluminescent (CL) property of the carbon dots in the presence of peroxynitrous acid was studied. Peroxynitrous acid is formed by online mixing of nitrite and acidified hydrogen peroxide. The CL intensity was increased linearly with nitrite concentration in the range from 1.0 × 10(-7) M to 1.0 × 10(-5) M, and the detection limit was 5.3 × 10(-8) M (signal-to-noise ratio of S/N = 3). This method has been successfully applied to the determination of nitrites in pond water, river water, and pure milk, with recoveries in the range of 98%-108%. The CL mechanism of the peroxynitrous acid-carbon dots system was investigated using the CL, ultraviolet-visible light (UV-vis), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. The electron-transfer annihilation of hole-injected and electron-injected carbon dots could mainly account for the CL emission, which sheds new light on the optical properties of the carbon dots.

In this paper, Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) capped by a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) were synthesized. The results showed a high selectivity of the MIP-capped Mn-doped ZnS QDs toward the template molecule (4-nitrophenol) by QD fluorescence quenching. The application of MIP-capped Mn-doped ZnS QDs to the chemiluminescence (CL) system was also studied using a KIO(4)-H(2)O(2) system. This application combines the good selectivity of MIP with the high sensitivity of CL. The linear range of this CL system is from 0.1 to 40 microM, and the detection limit (DL) for 4-nitrophenol in the water can reach 76 nM. The method was also used in the real water samples, and the recoveries can fall in the range of 91-96%.

We report new chemiluminescent properties of fluorescent carbon dots in the presence of classical oxidants, such as acidic potassium permanganate and cerium(IV). The radiative recombination of oxidant-injected holes and electrons in the carbon dots accounts for the CL emission, which sheds new light on characteristics of the carbon dots.