Synthesis of highly luminescent water stable ZnO quantum dots as photoluminescent sensor for picric acid

Highly luminescent, water stable (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane capped ZnO quantum dots (QDs) have been synthesized using a simple solution route. The synthesized ZnO QDs have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Particle size analyzer (PSA), UV-visible (UV-vis), Photoluminescence (PL) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The PL studies demonstrate that the particles synthesized are highly luminescent in nature emitting yellow color on exposure to UV radiation. Further, PL emission of ZnO QDs in the presence of picric acid (PA) shows their high sensitivity and selectivity for PA. The superior response of ZnO QDs in the presence of PA makes them very effective PL sensors. The limit of detection comes out to be 2.86 µM.