Nitrogen and boron co-doped carbon dots as a novel fluorescent probe for fluorogenic sensing of Ce4+ and ratiometric detection of Al3+

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 Ce4+ effectively and selectively, and the detection range of Ce4+ is gained from 0.14 to 180 μM with a detection limit of as low as 0.14 μM. Furthermore, Al3+ 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.