A novel sensitive colorimetric sensor for Cu2+ based on in situ formation of fluorescent quantum dots with photocatalytic activity.

This work demonstrates the use of quantum dots (QDs) with photocatalytic activity as a sensitive, inexpensive and rapid colorimetric platform for Cu2+ sensing. Based on the simple thiol compound mediated QDs growing method, CdS QDs can be quickly formed in situ, which possess excellent photocatalytic ability for the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to produce a colored product under light irradiation. Cu2+ can catalyze the oxidation of sulfhydryl groups in glutathione (GSH) which act as a stabilizer for CdS QDs. In the presence of Cu2+, GSH is oxidized and loss the stabilization ability for the growth of CdS QDs, thus resulting in the decrease of the absorbance. Under optimum conditions, as low as 5.3nM Cu2+ can be detected. This sensing system is simple, reliable and holds great potential to provide a new general platform for ultrasensitive monitoring of a variety of analytes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Shurong Tang, Meili Wang, Zhijun Li, Ping Tong, Qiang Chen, Guangwen Li, Jinghua Chen, Lan Zhang. A novel sensitive colorimetric sensor for Cu2+ based on in situ formation of fluorescent quantum dots with photocatalytic activity. Biosensors & bioelectronics. 2017 Mar 15;89(Pt 2):866-870

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PMID: 27816588

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