Synthesis and drug detection performance of nitrogen-doped carbon dots

Recently, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCDs) have attracted considerable interest since nitrogen (N) doping could effectively tailor the electronic properties and the chemical reactivity of carbon dots (CDs) for advanced potential applications. Herein, a one-step pyrolysis method was presented for synthesizing the NCDs with excellent water solubility, good stability and a high quantum yield of ca. 28%. The detection performance of NCDs for the antibacterial drugs was further explored, and it was proved to effectively enhance the fluorescence due to the strong interaction between the NCDs and antibacterial drugs.