Cu2+-mediated Fluorescence Switching of Graphene Quantum Dots for Highly Selective Detection of Glutathione

Abstract As a short peptide containing active thiol group, glutathione (GSH) participates in many cellular reactions, so it is of great significance to detect cellular GSH. In this work, amino-rich graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were synthesized, which could coordinate with copper ions (Cu2+) and yield aggregation-induced fluorescence quenching. However, GSH owns stronger coordination ability with Cu2+, so that GSH could promote the dissociation of Cu2+ from the surface of GQDs, and then led to the fluorescence recovery of GQDs. In BR buffer medium at pH 6.8, GSH was able to gradually recover the fluorescence of GQDs (1 μg/mL) that was quenched by Cu2+ (250 μmol/L), which could be finished within 20 min. Additionally, the recovery degree of fluorescence was linear to the concentration of GSH in the range of 20–500 μmol/L with a detection limit of 3.4 μmol/L. This method was applicable to the detection of GSH in cell lysate by the switchable function of Cu2+ to improve the selectivity.