Nitrogen-doped carbon dots from Hutai-8 grape skin and their application in Hg2+ detection

Background: In recent years, environmental pollution and heavy metal pollution caused by rapid urbanization and industrialization have become increasingly serious. Among them, mercury (II) ion (Hg2+) is one of the highly toxic heavy metal ions, and its pollution comes from various natural resources and human activities. Therefore, people attach great importance to the development of analytical methods for effective analysis and sensitive detection of Hg2+ . Objective: Using grape skin as a green and environmental friendly carbon source, to synthesize fluorescent carbon dots, and try to apply them to the detect the concentration of Hg2+ in water. Method: Using "Hutai No. 8" grape skin as carbon source, fluorescent carbon dots were synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method. Structure and fluorescent properties of the carbon dots were tested using TEM, XPS, XRD and other characterization instruments, and their utilization on detection of mercury ions in the actual water samples was explored. Results: The CDs had a particle size of about 4.8 nm and a spherical shape. There are N-H, C-N, C=O and other functional groups on the surface. It was found that Hg2+ has obvious fluorescence quenching effect on CDs, and thus CDs fluorescence quenching method to detect the concentration Hg2+ was established, and the detection limit is 3.7 μM, which could be applied to test the concentration of Hg2+ in water samples. Conclusion: Using grape skin as carbon source, fluorescent carbon dots were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method. Carbon dots were used to detect mercury ions in water, and a method for detecting mercury ions in actual water samples was established.