Green carbon quantum dots from sustainable lignocellulosic biomass and its application in the detection of Fe3+

Green quantum dots (CQDs) are fluorescent probes created with minimal environmental damage that can play significant roles in food safety and environmental monitoring, due to their non-toxicity and high solubility in water. Herein, CQDs from lignocellulosic agro-forest biomass as precursors were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The obtained lignocellulose-based CQDs exhibited the change of fluorescence characteristics because of different biomass components. Further, by investigating of fluorescence effect, yield and quenching response efficiency of lignocellulose-based CQDs, it was also found that the yield of CQDs was improved by the higher nonstructural sugar in lignocellulosic biomass. Compare with other CQDs, cassava stem CQDs displayed excellent sensitivity for Fe3+ detection along with good linear correlation ranging from 15.6 to 62.5 mu M. The results have a great potential in the synthesis and application of CQDs from lignocellulosic biomass.