Detection of metronidazole in honey and metronidazole tablets using carbon dots‐based sensor via the inner filter effect

In this work, carbon dots (CDs) with a high quantum yield (22.3%) were easily prepared by hydrothermal pyrolysis of acid fuchsin 6B and hydrogen peroxide at 180°C for 10 h. The resultant CDs possess a narrow size distribution in the range of 2.6 to 3.2 nm and emit blue fluorescence. Interestingly, the absorption band of metronidazole (MTZ) centered at 318 nm can complementary overlap with the excitation band of the as-prepared CDs centered at 320 nm, resulting in an inner filter effect (IFE) in high efficiency. In fact, the fluorescence quenching of the CDs depends on the concentration of MTZ. Therefore, a simple method for the detection of MTZ can be established using the CDs-based sensor via the IFE. The linear range of the proposed method was 0-10 μg mL^-1 with the limit of detection as low as 0.257 μg mL^-1 . This CDs-based sensor had been applied for the detection of MTZ in honey and MTZ tablets with the recoveries in the range of 98.0% to 105.1% and 95.7% to 106.5%, respectively. Therefore, the as-prepared CDs have a potential to be developed as a MTZ sensor with high selectivity, sensitivity and accuracy.