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Hydrothermal synthesis of N, P co-doped graphene quantum dots for high-performance Fe3+ detection and bioimaging

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Abstract

Doped carbon-based materials have attracted considerable attentions due to their extraordinary optical, thermal, and electronic properties. Herein, we demonstrate a facile and universal approach, which involves the hydrothermal treatment of citric acid and phosphonitrilic chloride trimer (Cl6N3P3), for the production of nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped graphene quantum dots (N, P-GQDs). The obtained N, P-GQDs with a mean size of about 3.4 nm exhibit bright yellow fluorescence, good-solubility, and attractive optical stability. Although the quantum yield as high as 34.8% has been proved in our synthesized N, P-GQDs, the fluorescence can be also fleetly and selectively quenched by Fe3+ ions. Therefore, high-performance Fe3+ sensors are fabricated with N, P-GQDs, with an ultra-sensitive detection limit of 146 nM. Furthermore, high ionic strength, mild acids, and alkaline are demonstrated to have a small impact on the fluorescence intensity of the N, P-GQDs. Finally, the as-synthesized N, P-GQDs, with bright luminescence and excellent biocompatibility, are applied for bioimaging, e.g., fibroblast cells.

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Funding

This work was supported by projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant nos. 11704204, 61604084, and 51802337; K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University; and the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo under grant no. 2017A610104.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microelectronic Science and Engineering, School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, People’s Republic of China

    Yongsheng Yang, Bingli Gu, Da Chen & Gang Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Zhiduo Liu

  3. Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, People’s Republic of China

    Yun Zhao

  4. School of Microelectronics, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China

    Qinglei Guo

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  1. Yongsheng Yang
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  2. Bingli Gu
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  4. Da Chen
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  5. Yun Zhao
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  6. Qinglei Guo
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  7. Gang Wang
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Correspondence to Da Chen, Qinglei Guo or Gang Wang.

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Yang, Y., Gu, B., Liu, Z. et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of N, P co-doped graphene quantum dots for high-performance Fe3+ detection and bioimaging. J Nanopart Res 23, 40 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-021-05154-z

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