A facile one step solvothermal controllable synthesis of FeS2 quantum dots with multiple color emission for the visual detection of aconitine

Abstract Iron disulfide (FeS2) quantum dots have potential applications in various fields such as photocatalysis, lithium-ion batteries and bioimaging. At present, there is no report on the fluorescent characteristics of FeS2 quantum dots (FeS2 QDs). In this work, a synthesis of multiple-color emission FeS2 QDs by changing the temperature, time and raw ratio has been reported. The blue, green, yellow and red emission FeS2 QDs can be obtained, respectively. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). On this basis, a novel molecular imprinting ratiometric fluorescence sensor (MIR sensor) had been constructed, in which the blue-emission FeS2 QDs (b-FeS2 QDs) was used as a fluorescent responsive signal material and the yellow-emission FeS2 QDs (y-FeS2 QDs) was served as a reference signal material. And this MIR sensor was applied for highly selective and sensitive detection of ACO in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Under the optimum conditions, the MIR sensor exhibited an excellent linear relationship between the fluorescence intensity ratio (I443/I590) and the concentration of ACO in the range of 0.05–5.0 μM with a detection limit of 24 nM. Furthermore, the established method was successfully utilized to the detection of ACO in TCM Fuzi Lizhong Pills with satisfactory results. It provided a reference for the application of the FeS2 QDs with multiple color emission and the detection of the hazardous alkaloids.