Detection of quercetin based on Al3+-amplified phosphorescence signals of manganese-doped ZnS quantum dots

A simple phosphorescence method is proposed for quercetin detection based on Al3+-amplified room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) signals of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs). The sensor was established based on some properties as follows. Al3+ can interact with carboxyl groups on the surface of MPA-capped Mn-doped ZnS QDs via chelation, which will lead to the aggregation of QDs and amplification of RTP signals, After the addition of quercetin, it can form more stable complex with Al3+ in alkaline aqueous solution and dissociate Al3+ from the surface of Mn-doped ZnS QDs, which will result in significant recovery of RTP intensity of the MPA-capped Mn-doped ZnS–Al3+ system. Under the optimized conditions, the change of RTP intensity was proportional to the concentration of quercetin in the range from 0.1 to 6.0 mg L−1, with a high correlation coefficient of 0.996 and a detection limit of 0.047 mg L−1. The proposed method is potentially suitable for detection of quercetin in real samples without complicated pretreatment.