Hydrothermal synthesis of carbon dots and their application for detection of chlorogenic acid

A novel and sensitive fluorescence analysis platform was constructed for the detection of chlorogenic acid (CGA) using carbon dots (C-dots) with prominent sensitivity and selectivity. Excitation-dependent emission fluorescence C-dots were fabricated using citric acid and l-histidine as precursors through an efficient one-step hydrothermal treatment. The maximum excitation and emission wavelength of the as-synthesized C-dots were 340 nm and 414 nm, respectively. Moreover, the as-prepared C-dots displayed excellent water solubility and good photostability. The fluorescence quantum yield of the as-prepared C-dots was measured to be about 22% using quinine sulfate as the reference. Furthermore, the obtained C-dots were applied to the detection of CGA accompanied with a wide linear range from 1.53 μmol L^-1 to 80.0 μmol L^-1 as well as a limit detection of 0.46 μmol L^-1 . More importantly, the proposed fluorescence method was successfully used to analyse CGA in coffee and honeysuckle.