Hydrothermal synthesis of carbon dots and their application for detection of chlorogenic acid

Abstract A novel and sensitive fluorescence analysis platform was constructed for the detection of chlorogenic acid (CGA) using carbon dots (C‐dots) with prominent sensitivity and selectivity. Excitation‐dependent emission fluorescence C‐dots were fabricated using citric acid and l ‐histidine as precursors through an efficient one‐step hydrothermal treatment. The maximum excitation and emission wavelength of the as‐synthesized C‐dots were 340 nm and 414 nm, respectively. Moreover, the as‐prepared C‐dots displayed excellent water solubility and good photostability. The fluorescence quantum yield of the as‐prepared C‐dots was measured to be about 22% using quinine sulfate as the reference. Furthermore, the obtained C‐dots were applied to the detection of CGA accompanied with a wide linear range from 1.53 μmol L −1 to 80.0 μmol L −1 as well as a limit detection of 0.46 μmol L −1 . More importantly, the proposed fluorescence method was successfully used to analyse CGA in coffee and honeysuckle.