Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-Doped Graphene-Quantum-Dot-Based Fluorescent Sensor for Rapid Visual Detection of Water Content in Organic Solvents

Accurate water content detection is crucial for optimizing chemical reactions, ensuring product quality in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and maintaining food safety. In this study, nitrogen and sulfur co-doped graphene quantum dots (R-GQDs) were synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method using o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 29; no. 21; p. 5178
Main Authors Zhang, Hongyuan, Wang, Jieqiong, Ji, Xiaona, Bao, Yanru, Han, Ce, Sun, Guoying
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2024
MDPI
Subjects
Biocompatibility
Carbon
Efficiency
Fluorescence
fluorescent probes
Food
Graphene
graphene quantum dots
Graphite
Nitrogen
portable sensors
Quantum dots
Safety and security measures
Sensors
Smartphones
Solvents
Sulfur
Sulfur compounds
Sulfuric acid
Temperature
Variance analysis
Water
water content
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Summary:Accurate water content detection is crucial for optimizing chemical reactions, ensuring product quality in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and maintaining food safety. In this study, nitrogen and sulfur co-doped graphene quantum dots (R-GQDs) were synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method using o-phenylenediamine as the carbon source. The synthesis conditions, including reaction time, temperature, o-phenylenediamine concentration, and H2SO4/water ratio, were optimized using the Box-Behnken response surface methodology. The R-GQDs exhibited excellent fluorescence stability and distinct solvent-dependent characteristics, alongside a broad linear detection range and high sensitivity, making them highly suitable for dual-mode water content detection (colorimetric and fluorescent). To enhance the accuracy of visual detection, R-GQDs were incorporated into portable test strips with smartphone-assisted analysis, compensating for the human eye’s limitations in distinguishing subtle color changes. The sensor’s practical utility was validated through spiked recovery experiments in food samples, and the R-GQDs demonstrated good biocompatibility for in vivo imaging in shrimp. These findings highlight a novel strategy for developing portable, real-time water content sensors with potential applications in both portable detection systems and biological imaging.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules29215178