Hydrophilic AgInZnS quantum dots as a fluorescent turn-on probe for Cd2+ detection
Yongfeng Liu, Xiaosheng Tang, Ming Deng, Tao Zhu, Ludvig Edman, Jia Wang
Abstract
Quantum dots (QDs) are intensively studied and developed for the detection of toxic heavy metal ions, notably Cd2+. However, a severe drawback is that the probing QDs themselves often are based on highly toxic elements, such as Pb or Cd. Here, we report on a one-step aqueous synthesis of more benign and hydrophilic AgInZnS QDs using 3-mercaptopropionic acid as a ligand with a high photoluminescence quantum yield of up to 41%, which were successfully employed as a fluorescent probe with a turn-on mode for detection of Cd2+ in aqueous solutions. Specifically, we determine that the effective detection range of Cd2+ in aqueous solution is 0.1–290 μM, with the lower limit of detection being 37.8 nM. We further establish that the excellent turn-on detection of Cd2+ is due to that surface defects on the AgInZnS QDs are effectively passivated by the Cd2+, as verified by a prolonged fluorescent lifetime and an increased photoluminescence quantum yield. We finally demonstrate that the AgInZnS QD probe is capable of detecting Cd2+ in lake water samples, and that it meets the WHO standard.