Picomolar Detection of Lead Ions (Pb 2+ ) by Functionally Modified Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots from Watermelon Juice and Their Imaging in Cancer Cells.
Kundan Singh RawatVikram SinghChandra Prakash SharmaAkanksha VyasPriyanka PandeyJagriti SinghNeeraj Mohan GuptaMonika SachdevAtul GoelPublished in: Journal of imaging (2023)
Water contamination due to the presence of lead is one of the leading causes of environmental and health hazards because of poor soil and groundwater waste management. Herein we report the synthesis of functionally modified luminescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) obtained from watermelon juice as potential nanomaterials for the detection of toxic Pb 2+ ions in polluted water and cancer cells. By introducing surface passivating ligands such as ethanolamine (EA) and ethylenediamine (ED) in watermelon juice, watermelon-ethanolamine (WMEA)-CQDs and watermelon-ethylenediamine (WMED)-CQDs exhibited a remarkable ~10-fold and ~6-fold increase in fluorescence intensity with respect to non-doped WM-CQDs. The relative fluorescence quantum yields of WMEA-CQDs and WMED-CQDs were found to be 8% and 7%, respectively, in an aqueous medium. Among various functionally-modified CQDs, only WMED-CQDs showed high selectivity towards Pb 2+ ions with a remarkably good limit of detection (LoD) of 190 pM, which is less than that of the permissible limit (72 nM) in drinking water. The functionally altered WMED-CQDs detected Pb 2+ metal ions in polluted water and in a human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa), thus advocating new vistas for eco-friendly nanomaterials for their use as diagnostic tools in the environment and biomedical research areas.
Keyphrases
- quantum dots
- heavy metals
- drinking water
- energy transfer
- health risk
- health risk assessment
- sensitive detection
- risk assessment
- aqueous solution
- human health
- loop mediated isothermal amplification
- endothelial cells
- mental health
- emergency department
- label free
- healthcare
- real time pcr
- cell proliferation
- high resolution
- single molecule
- high intensity
- molecular dynamics
- water soluble
- air pollution
- photodynamic therapy
- mass spectrometry
- social media
- lactic acid
- metal organic framework
- fluorescence imaging
- pi k akt