A rapid and sensitive assay for determination of doxycycline using thioglycolic acid-capped cadmium telluride quantum dots

•Rapid fluorescence determination of doxycycline was done using QDs.•This method is simple and sensitive than other methods proposed for doxycycline determination.•The proposed method requires inexpensive instrumentation and chemicals.

A rapid, simple and inexpensive spectrofluorimetric sensor for determination of doxycycline based on its interaction with thioglycolic acid-capped cadmium telluride quantum dots (TGA/CdTe QDs) has been developed. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the sensor exhibited a fast response time of <10 s. The results revealed that doxycycline could quench the fluorescence of TGA/CdTe QDs via electron transfer from the QDs to doxycycline through a dynamic quenching mechanism. The sensor permitted determination of doxycycline in a concentration range of 1.9 × 10−6–6.1 × 10−5 mol L−1 with a detection limit of 1.1 × 10−7 mol L−1. The sensor was applied for determination of doxycycline in honey and human serum samples.

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