Fluorescence resonance energy transfer between carbon quantum dots and silver nanoparticles: Application to mercuric ion sensing

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process as a practical and competitive sensing strategy was utilized between carbon quantum dots (C-dots) and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) for the determination of mercuric ions. The novel synthesized C-dots with the quantum yield of 84% acted as the donor and Ag NPs operated as the acceptor in the FRET process leading to the fluorescence quenching of the C-dots. In the presence of Hg(II) ions, the FRET-quenched fluorescence emission of the C-dots-Ag NPs system was recovered owing to oxidation of Ag NPs by Hg(II) ions, so that the turn-on fluorescence intensity was directly proportional to the Hg(II) ion concentration. Accordingly, combination of the FRET system with the redox reaction was firstly utilized to construct an innovative turn-off/on fluorescent sensor for the quantification of Hg(II) ion. The calibration plot was linear in the concentration range 0.5-500.0 nmol L-1 with a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.9965. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.10 and 0.35 nmol L-1, respectively, according to the IUPAC definition. The method was applied for the determination of Hg(II) ion in lake water, wastewater and tea samples, and the proper relative recoveries (98.0-104.0%) were obtained for the spiked samples. The method has high potential to diagnose trace values of mercuric ions in real samples with high sensitivity and repeatability.