Work

Efficient synthesis of red-emissive nitrogen-doped carbon dots for sensitive detection of amaranth in food samples

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Red-emissive carbon dots (CDs) play a crucial role in various food detection applications due to their strong fluorescence in the red luminescence region. Typically, nitrogen-doped CDs are synthesized from diverse precursors and predominantly emit blue fluorescence, which limits their advancement. In this study, we developed an efficient strategy to synthesize novel red-emissive nitrogen-doped carbon dots (R-NCDs) from L-malic acid and urea using a simple solvothermal approach. The synthesized R-NCDs exhibited optimal excitation and emission wavelengths of 540 nm and 630 nm, respectively, and achieved a quantum yield of 14.3 %. Additionally, the fluorescence of the R-NCDs was effectively quenched by the food coloring agent amaranth , allowing for a linear range of 0.050–75 µM and a detection limit of 15 nM. Furthermore, we established a new and efficient fluorescence detection platform capable of detecting trace amounts of amaranth in soda , fruit gummies, hard candies, vodka , preserved fruits, juices, and cocktails, yielding recovery rates ranging from 88.0 % to 119 % with a relative standard deviation of 1.1–3.9 %. Notably, this study is unique as it presents the first synthesis of R-NCDs based on L-malic acid and urea for the detection of amaranth content in various food samples, emphasizing its novelty and significance.

Source: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2024.107113