Nitrogen and boron co-doped carbon dots as a novel fluorescent probe for fluorogenic sensing of Ce and ratiometric detection of Al.

Carbon dots have been widely focused on the field of metal ion detection due to their excellent optical property. Herein, novel orange fluorescent nitrogen and boron co-doped carbon dots (NB-CDs) are obtained by one-pot solvothermal using p-phenylenediamine and boric acid as raw materials. The NB-CDs exhibit excitation-independent emissions and the maximum emission wavelength is 597 nm at 420 nm excitation. The fluorescence can be quenched by Ce effectively and selectively, and the detection range of Ce is gained from 0.14 to 180 μM with a detection limit of as low as 0.14 μM. Furthermore, Al can also recombine with NB-CDs surface functional groups, which shows a detection range from 1.07 to 100 μM and a detection limit of as low as 1.07 μM, accompanied with a blue-shift to 527 nm.