Self-assembly of nitrogen-doped carbon dots anchored on bacterial cellulose and their application in iron ion detection

Nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal method using citric acid (CA) and ethanediamine (EDA) as precursors. A green and simple fluorescence biosensor was obtained by biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose (BC)/N-CDs. As-prepared N-CDs with rich functional groups exhibited a blue emission under the excitation wavelength of 350 nm. Biosynthesis of BC/N-CDs was analyzed by Digital photos, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that N-CDs were successfully anchored on BC. As-prepared BC/N-CDs were applied to the detection of Fe3+ in aqueous solution. Spectroscopic data revealed that, fluorescence materials prepared presented an sensitive response to Fe3+ in acceptable range of 0.5-600 μM and ultralow detection limit of 84 nM as a fluorescence sensor. Furthermore, the results also indicate that a novel BC/N-CDs composite has great potential for the detection of Fe3+ ions based on membrane fluorescence materials.