Ratiometric fluorescent paper-based sensor based on CdTe quantum dots and graphite carbon nitride hybrid for visual and rapid determination of Cu(2+) in drinks.

A simple and effective ratiometric fluorescent sensor of CdTe QDs/GCNNs for on-site and rapid analysis of Cu(2+) has been established by mixing physically CdTe QDs and graphite carbon nitride (GCNNs). Two emissions peaks of CdTe QDs at 572 nm and GCNNs at 436 nm are both excitated at 340 nm. Under a UV lamp, fluorescent of traffic yellow CdTe QDs is linearly quenched by Cu(2+) (as the detection signal), while blue GCNNs remains unchanged (as the reference), resulting in a distinguishable color change gradually from pink yellow to blue. The limit of detection (LOD) of this new sensor for Cu(2+) is as low as 0.47 ng mL(-1) with 1.4 % RSD. The established method has been successfully applied to detection of Cu(2+) in various drinks with satisfactory results. Moreover, a paper-based sensor, which has been prepared by soaking cellulose acetate membrane in CdTe QDs/GCNNs sensor solution, has a wide semi-quantitative detection range for Cu(2+) (0.01~5.0 mug mL(-1) ). It has realized successfully on-site and rapid determination of Cu(2+) in red wine without any pretreatment procedure and is of great promotion and application value in determination of Cu(2+) in liquid samples.