Highly Green Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Gallic Acid: A Turn-On Sensor toward Pb²⁺ Ions

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) are emerging novel fluorescent sensing nanomaterials owing to their tunable optical properties, biocompatibility, and eco-friendliness. Herein, we report a facile one-pot hydrothermal route for the synthesis of highly green fluorescent CDs using gallic acid (GA) as a single carbon source in <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent, which serves as a nitrogen source and reaction medium. The optical properties of the synthesized GA-DMF CDs were systematically characterized by using UV-vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy, revealing strong green fluorescence. Further, to gain insights into their size and structural, elemental, and chemical composition, Fourier transform infrared, dynamic light scattering, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization techniques were performed. HR-TEM analysis confirmed the formation of uniformly spherical GA-DMF CDs with an average particle size of 16 ± 6.1 nm. Notably, the GA-DMF CDs exhibited a highly selective and turn-on fluorescent response to Pb²⁺ ions in aqueous solutions, which was attributed to a chelation-enhanced fluorescence mechanism. The detection limit for Pb²⁺ ions was determined to be as low as 7.15 × 10^-7 M, with a broad linear detection range of 30-130 μM, underscoring their sensitivity and practical application in water quality monitoring. This study introduces a novel, sustainable approach for synthesizing nitrogen-doped CDs with outstanding optical properties and highlights their unprecedented selectivity toward Pb²⁺ ions, advancing the development of efficient and eco-friendly sensing platforms for heavy metal detection.