Fluorescence Turn off Sensor for Brilliant Blue FCF- an Approach Based on Inner Filter Effect

A nanosensor with fluorometric readout based on L-cysteine capped cadmium sulphide quantum dots for discriminative detection and determination of Brilliant blue FCF (BB) (in 0.5 M Tris buffer solution of pH 9.5) over other synthetic food colourants is developed. Mechanism of the nanosensor is based on inner filter effect (IFE). The addition of BB into quantum dot solution might induce the quenching of fluorescence. The nanosensor described in this report reveals its simplicity and flexibility due to less laborious and more cost-effective synthesis. The developed fluorescence sensor showed excellent selectivity towards BB, and allows the detection as low as 3.50 × 10^-7 M. The developed sensor exhibited a linear concentration range of 4.00 × 10^-5 to 4.50 × 10^-6 M. More importantly, the proposed sensor exhibit sensitive responses toward BB in food samples such as sports drink and candies, demonstrating its potential in food analysis, which might be significant in food quality control in the future.