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Bright Mn-doped carbon dots for the determination of permanganate and L-ascorbic acid by a fluorescence on-off-on strategy

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Abstract

A one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of manganese-doped carbon dots (Mn-CDs) is reported for fluorescent “on-off-on” determination of Mn(VII) and L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) in aqueous solution and living cells. Mn-CDs were prepared by using sulfanilic acid, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride, and Mn(II) chloride as precursors. Mn-CDs were characterized by several spectroscopic methods and microscopic techniques. Mn-CDs show distinctly long fluorescence lifetime (12.39 ± 0.07 ns) and high absolute fluorescence quantum yield (around 37%) with excitation and emission wavelengths of 362 and 500 nm, respectively. Mn-CDs exhibit no significant cytotoxicity to human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells and human embryonic kidney HEK-293T cells at 200 μg mL−1 level after 48 h incubation. The fluorescence of Mn-CDs at 500 nm (excited at 362 nm) is quenched efficiently by Mn(VII) and can be further recovered after the addition of L-AA, resulting in a fluorescent “on-off-on” assay for the determination of Mn(VII) and L-AA. Under optimal experimental conditions, the linear response covers the 3 to 150 μM Mn(VII) concentration range and the 3 to 140 μM L-AA concentration range. This method offers relatively low detection limits of 0.66 μM for Mn(VII) and 0.90 μM for L-AA. This strategy was applied to visual determination of Mn(VII) and L-AA in living HeLa cells with satisfying results.

Schematic presentation of bright Mn-CD-based fluorescence “on-off-on” assay for both Mn(VII) and L-AA. This fluorescent assay possessed low detection limit of 0.66 μM for Mn(VII) and 0.90 μM for L-AA. This strategy was applied for visual determination of Mn(VII) and L-AA in living HeLa cells with satisfying results.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21864006, 21763005, 21563006), Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province (2017GXNSFDA198034, 2017GXNSFFA198005), Guangxi Scientific and Technological Development Projects (AD17195081), the Thousands of Young Teachers Training Program of Guangxi Province (guijiaoren[2018]18), the High-Level-Innovation Team (guijiaoren[2017]38) and Outstanding Scholar Project of Guangxi Higher Education Institutes, and BAGUI Scholar Program of Guangxi Province of China.

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Correspondence to Qi Xiao or Shan Huang.

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Chu, X., Ning, G., Zhou, Z. et al. Bright Mn-doped carbon dots for the determination of permanganate and L-ascorbic acid by a fluorescence on-off-on strategy. Microchim Acta 187, 659 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04604-0

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