Glutathione-capped CdTe nanocrystals as probe for the determination of fenbendazole

• A novel method determining fenbendazole (FBZ) was proposed.
• The method has been applied for the determination of FBZ in pharmaceutical preparations with satisfactory results.
• The possible reaction mechanism of QDs and FBZ was discussed.

Water-soluble glutathione (GSH)-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized. In pH 7.1 PBS buffer solution, the interaction between GSH-capped CdTe QDs and fenbendazole (FBZ) was investigated by spectroscopic methods, including fluorescence spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy, and resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) spectroscopy. In GSH-capped CdTe QDs solution, the addition of FBZ results in the fluorescence quenching and RRS enhancement of GSH-capped CdTe QDs. And the quenching intensity (enhanced RRS intensity) was proportional to the concentration of FBZ in a certain range. Investigation of the interaction mechanism, proved that the fluorescence quenching and RRS enhancement of GSH-capped CdTe QDs by FBZ is the result of electrostatic attraction. Based on the quenching of fluorescence (enhancement of RRS) of GSH-capped CdTe QDs by FBZ, a novel, simple, rapid and specific method for FBZ determination was proposed. The detection limit for FBZ was 42 ng mL−1 (3.4 ng mL−1) and the quantitative determination range was 0–2.8 μg mL−1 with a correlation of 0.9985 (0.9979). The method has been applied to detect FBZ in real simples and with satisfactory results.

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