Gram-Scale Synthesis of Graphitic Carbon Nitride Quantum Dots with Ultraviolet Photoluminescence for Fe3+ Ion Detection

A method for gram-scale synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots (g-C₃N₄QDs) was developed. The weight of the g-C₃N₄QDs was up to 1.32 g in each run with a yield of 66 wt%, and the purity was 99.96 wt%. The results showed that g-C₃N₄QDs exhibit a stable and strong ultraviolet photoluminescence at a wavelength of 365 nm. More interestingly, the g-C₃N₄QDs can be used as a high-efficiency, sensitive, and selective fluorescent probe to detect Fe³⁺ with a detection limit of 0.259 μM.