Photoinduced Electron Transfer-Triggered g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>\Rhodamine B Sensing System for the Ratiometric Fluorescence Quantitation of Carbendazim
Qianru Zhang, Zhong Zhang, Shihao Xu, Anqi Liu, Liangguo Da, Dan Lin, Changlong Jiang
Abstract
Assays for carbendazim (Car) with high sensitivity and on-site screening have been urgently required to protect the ecosystem and prevent disease. In this work, a simple, sensitive, and reliable sensing system based on photoinduced electron transfer was established to detect carbendazim utilizing ultrathin graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets and rhodamine B (RB). Carbendazim reacts with g-C 3 N 4 by electrostatic interactions to form π–π stacking, and the quenching of the blue fluorescence is caused by electron transfer. While RB works as a reference fluorescence sensor without any fluorescence change, leading to obvious ratiometric fluorescence variation from blue to purple. Under optimal conditions, a favorable linear range from 20 to 180 nM was obtained, with a low detection limit of 5.89 nM. In addition, a portable smartphone sensing platform was successfully used for carbendazim detection in real samples with excellent anti-interference capability, demonstrating the potential applications of carbendazim monitoring.