Resonance energy transfer based electrochemiluminescence and fluorescence sensing of riboflavin using graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots

Graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots (g-CNQDs) are rarely used in the field of electrochemiluminescence. In this paper, g-CNQDs have a strong and stable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signal generated in the presence of co-reactant K2S2O8. The ECL signal of g-CNQDs was quenched by the mechanism of resonance energy transfer (RET) between donor g-CNQDs and receptor riboflavin (RF) that is proved by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, electrochemiluminescence and fluorescence emission spectroscopy analysis technology. Therefore, we achieved detection of the riboflavin content in the drug tablets of vitamin B2 using ECL and FL. The determination results of ECL showed that the riboflavin content of the drug vitamin B2 (VB2) tablets was consistent with the fluorescence (FL) analysis, with wider linear range of 0.02–11 μM and lower minimum detection limit of 0.63 nM (S/N = 3) than FL. Hence, the riboflavin content in human serum was further detected using ECL. The relative standard deviation is less than 6.5%, with an acceptable recovery of 95.33%–104.22%, which means that this sensor has potential applications in the actual sample analysis. As a new ECL luminary, g-CNQDs have opened a new field for the development and application of ECL sensor.