Ratiometric fluorescence method comprising carbon dots and rhodamine 6G encapsulated in metal-organic framework microcubes for curcumin detection

Abstract

A ratiometric fluorescence method comprising carbon dots (CDs) and rhodamine 6G (Rh-6G) encapsulated in the microcubes of metal-organic framework (MOF-5) is introduced for the sensitive detection of curcumin (Cur) in condiments. CDs@MOF-5@Rh-6G, synthesized by the adsorption of Rh-6G on MOF-5 embedded with CDs, showed two distinct emission peaks at 435 and 560 nm under excitation at 335 nm, and could be used for Cur detection by ratiometric fluorescence. In the presence of Cur, the fluorescence of the CDs at 435 nm (F₄₃₅) was quenched by Cur owing to internal filtering and dynamic quenching effects, whereas the emission of Rh-6G at 560 nm (F₅₆₀) remained unchanged (335 nm is the excitation wavelength, 435 and 560 nm are the emission wavelengths, in which F₄₃₅/F₅₆₀ values are used as the output results). Under optimal conditions, a linear relationship was observed between the Cur concentration (in the range 0.1-5 μmol/L) and F₄₃₅/F₅₆₀ value for CDs@MOF-5@Rh-6G, with a detection limit of 15 nmol/L. Notably, the proposed method could accurately detect Cur in mustard, curry, and red pepper powders. Therefore, this study could improve the quality control of food and facilitate the development of sensitive ratiometric fluorescence probes.

Keywords: Carbon dots; Curcumin; Metal–organic frameworks; Ratiometric fluorescence.