One-step hydrothermal synthesis of silver-doped carbon quantum dots for highly selective detection of uric acid

In this paper, a simple and convenient fluorescence method for detection of uric acid (UA) based on Ag-doped carbon quantum dots (Ag-CQDs) is developed. The Ag-CQDs contain Ag species could bond with UA, which promoted the electron and/or energy transfer and produced high quenching extent. Thus, the fluorescence intensity of Ag-CQDs decreased in the presence of UA. Under the optimal condition, the UA sensor exhibited a linear response in the range of 0.005-100 μM with a detection limit of 0.35 nM (S/N = 3). Ag-CQDs demonstrated high sensitivity and rapid response to UA over a wide range of concentration indicating their great potential as a fluorescent probe for chemical sensing. Moreover, this method has successfully applied to detect UA in human urine samples.