A highly selective and sensitive CdS fluorescent quantum dot for the simultaneous detection of multiple pesticides

The abuse of pesticides has introduced a large number of residues in soil and drinking water, which can then enter the food chain and the human body. Monitoring pesticide residues and developing simple and fast detection systems for pesticide residues is urgently needed. In this study, we presented one-pot prepared CdS fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) and explored their sensing application for organic pesticides. The CdS QDs can sensitively and selectively detect three different pesticides, dichlorvos (DDVP), paraquat, and glufosinate-ammonium, through different fluorescence responses. Paraquat can effectively quench the fluorescence of the QDs and DDVP can cause remarkable fluorescent enhancement. Glufosinate-ammonium can induce both 150 nm fluorescent blueshifting and 30-fold fluorescent enhancement. The probe exhibited low detection limits for the three pesticides: 1.44 μM for paraquat, 0.23 mM for DDVP, and 49.8 μM for glufosinate-ammonium. Furthermore, based on the results, we utilized the powerful functions of smartphones to establish a concentration-gray value standard curve through RGB values and gray values to realize the qualitative detection and quantitative analysis of DDVP. It is believed that this work presents a new platform for the simultaneous detection of multiple pesticides using a single QDs probe. The present on-site method using a smartphone is of great potential for water monitoring in rural areas.