ZnO quantum dots for fluorescent detection of environmental contaminants

Various environmental pollutants have threatened to the environment and human health, the assay of them is of considerable significance. In recent years, ZnO quantum dots (ZnO QDs) have been well-developed and utilized in a variety of fields owing to their excellent biocompatibility, bright fluorescence, as well as ease of fabrication. And continuous efforts have been made in the explorations of ZnO QDs for environmental sensing. This review briefly introduces synthetic approaches and properties of ZnO QDs, and the merits, limits and sensing strategies of ZnO QDs-based environmental sensors are discussed. And we further highlighted the recent advances of ZnO QDs for fluorescent sensing various environmental contaminants, including inorganic and organic pollutants. In the last section, the challenges and perspectives are discussed. We believe that this review will promote both the further development and wide applications of ZnO QDs. • Synthetic strategies and properties of ZnO QDs are provided. • This review discussed the merits and limits of ZnO QDs for fluorescent detection of environmental contaminants. • Detection strategies of ZnO QDs-based fluorescent nanosensors for environmental contaminants are presented. • We highlighted the significant advances in ZnO QDs-based fluorescent nanosensors for environmental contaminants. • The challenges and future perspectives of ZnO QDs-based fluorescent nanosensors for environmental contaminants are discussed.