Simple synthesis of thioglycolic acid-coated CdTe quantum dots as probes for Norfloxacin lactate detection

In this study, a simple and effective fluorometry method has been developed and used for the determination of Norfloxacin lactate (NOR-L) by the fluorescence quenching of thioglycolic acid (TGA)-coated CdTe quantum dots (QDs). The TGA-CdTe QDs were obtained in a simple way without precursor preparation, heating, pH adjustment and N2 protection. The CdTe QDs were characterized by TEM, UV-vis spectrophotometer and spectrofluorometer. Meanwhile, spectrofluorometer was used to evaluation of simple, convenient and highly sensitive determination of NOR-L. After the experimental conditions were optimized, a good linear relationship was obtained from 0.1-100 μg/mL with the coefficient of determination (0.99342) and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.031 μg/mL. Moreover, a possible quenching mechanism was investigated and the CdTe QDs were also successfully used to confirm the NOR-L in pharmaceutical formations. The proposed method is rapid, simple, and applied.