Nickel ion detection by imidazole modified carbon dots.

Nickel ions (Ni) were detected by a new imidazole modified carbon dots (CDs) based on fluorescence quenching method. Structural characterization of CD-imidazole quantum dots were accomplished by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Spectroscopic properties were characterized by ultraviolet absorption spectrum and fluorescence spectrum. Ni concentration showed good linear relationship with fluorescence quenching efficiency in the range of 6-100 mM (R = 0.99) and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.93 mM. Imidazole modified CDs have strong selectivity of Ni compared with other metal ions in aqueous solution. These results demonstrated that the fluorescence sense platform based on imidazole modified CDs can be applied to Ni detection in environment.