Rapid detection of diazinon as an organophosphorus poison in real samples using fluorescence carbon dots

Abstract Due to the growing population of the world and the concerns related to food security, the application of pesticides in agriculture has increased in order to increasing the production efficacy. Excessive use of such chemicals can lead to serious contaminations in environmental and food chains. In this way, it is necessary to find more accurate and fast approaches to the detection of pesticide residuos in food. In this paper, a simple, rapid and inexpensive nanosensor based on fluorescence carbon dots (CDs) has been reported for the detection of diazinon on real samples. The synthesized CDs were characterized using UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The obtained CDs showed maximum fluorescence emission at 485 nm when excited at 393 nm. Upon the addition of diazinon, the emission was quenched accordingly with a concentration-dependent manner. The designed nanosensor could specifically detect diazinon in comparison to other organophosphorus poisons. The sensor has achieved a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.038 ± 0.01 µM and a dynamic linear range of up to 13 µM.