A novel β-Cyclodextrin-QDs optical biosensor for the determination of amantadine and its application in cell imaging

► A novel optical biosensor for amantadine (AD) determination has been constructed. ► It was based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer between QDs and Rhodamine B. ► It has been used for the determination of AD in pharmaceutical formulation. ► β-CD-functionalized QDs with AD in the cavity were incubated with target HepG2 cells. ► It could act as a visible biomarker for AD in cancer cells fluorescence imaging.