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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDScientific Reports

Europium-decorated carbon quantum dots for dual Cu2+/Fe3+ detection and live-cell bioimaging

  • Sonaimuthu Mohandoss1,2
  • Lalitha Gnanasekaran3
  • Rajkumar Sekar4
  • J. Iyyappan5
  • Mani Durai6,7
  • Dharani Shanmugapriya8
  • Kuppu Sakthi Velu9
  • Naushad Ahmad10
  • Prathap Somu11
11 affiliations
  1. 1Centre of Molecular Medicine and Diagnostics, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. [email protected]
  2. 2School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea. [email protected]
  3. 3International Center of Nanotechnology and Functional Materials, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, 1000000, Chile
  4. 4Department of Basic Sciences, School of Sciences and Humanities, SR University, Warangal, 506371, India
  5. 5Department of Biotechnology, Vel Tech High Tech Dr. Rangarajan Dr Sakunthala Enigineering College, Avadi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600062, India
  6. 6Centre for Promotion of Research, Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Clement Town, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248002, India
  7. 7Centre for Research Impact & Outcome, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University,, Rajpura, Punjab, 140401, India
  8. 8Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad de La Serena, Código, 1700000, Chile
  9. 9School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea
  10. 10Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
  11. 11Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Faculty of Science, Technology and Architecture (FoST&A), Manipal University Jaipur, Dehmi Kalan, Off. Jaipur-Ajmer Expressway, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 303007, India. [email protected]
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Abstract

The present study demonstrated europium-decorated carbon quantum dots (Eu-CQDs), which were synthesized through a one-pot hydrothermal process using sucrose and melamine as the carbon and nitrogen sources and EuCl 3 as the rare earth metal ion of Eu. The resulting blue-emissive Eu-CQDs were confirmed using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, including UV-Vis absorption, fluorescence (FL), FT-IR, XRD, TEM, and XPS. The Eu-CQDs showed significant UV-Vis and FL emission at wavelengths of 320 and 424 nm, respectively, with a quantum yield (QY) of 33.6%. TEM analysis revealed well-dispersed spherical Eu-CQDs with an average size of 3.19 ± 0.21 nm. Remarkably, the Eu-CQDs served as an outstanding FL probe for the selective sensing of ferric ions (Fe 3+ ) and copper ions (Cu 2+ ) through FL dynamic quenching, especially photo-induced electron transfer (PET), while other metal ions produced minimal intensity changes. The detection limits were 65.6 nM for Cu 2+ and 72.1 nM for Fe 3+ , with a linear relationship observed in the range of 0–20 µM. However, the dynamic quenched FL of Eu-CQDs/Cu 2+ and Eu-CQDs/Fe 3+ was swiftly enhanced by EDTA via a turn-on response. The practical use of the Eu-CQDs probe for quantifying the Cu 2+ and Fe 3+ ion concentrations was conducted with real water samples, and the findings indicated satisfactory recoveries (101.1% for Cu 2+ and 104.8% for Fe 3+ ) and good reproducibility, which aligned with the results obtained from UV-Vis spectroscopy. Additionally, the WST assay was assess the cytotoxic effects of Eu-CQDs, and their capability to image live HCT-116 (human colon cancer cell line) cells was assessed. These results indicate that the Eu-CQDs used for the nanoscale sensing of Fe 3+ and Cu 2+ metal ions are both selective and sensitive, and they can be successfully used for live cell imaging of cancer cell lines when used with this probe.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{mohandoss2026europiumdecorated,
  title = {{Europium-decorated carbon quantum dots for dual Cu2+/Fe3+ detection and live-cell bioimaging}},
  author = {Sonaimuthu Mohandoss and Lalitha Gnanasekaran and Rajkumar Sekar and J. Iyyappan and Mani Durai and Dharani Shanmugapriya and Kuppu Sakthi Velu and Naushad Ahmad and Prathap Somu},
  journal = {Scientific Reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-53511-6},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-53511-6},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Europium-decorated carbon quantum dots for dual Cu2+/Fe3+ detection and live-cell bioimaging
AU  - Sonaimuthu Mohandoss
AU  - Lalitha Gnanasekaran
AU  - Rajkumar Sekar
AU  - J. Iyyappan
AU  - Mani Durai
AU  - Dharani Shanmugapriya
AU  - Kuppu Sakthi Velu
AU  - Naushad Ahmad
AU  - Prathap Somu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/16
JO  - Scientific Reports
DO  - 10.1038/s41598-026-53511-6
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-53511-6
AB  - The present study demonstrated europium-decorated carbon quantum dots (Eu-CQDs), which were synthesized through a one-pot hydrothermal process using sucrose and melamine as the carbon and nitrogen sources and EuCl 3 as the rare earth metal ion of Eu. The resulting blue-emissive Eu-CQDs were confirmed using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, including UV-Vis absorption, fluorescence (FL), FT-IR, XRD, TEM, and XPS. The Eu-CQDs showed significant UV-Vis and FL emission at wavelengths of 320 and 424 nm, respectively, with a quantum yield (QY) of 33.6%. TEM analysis revealed well-dispersed spherical Eu-CQDs with an average size of 3.19 ± 0.21 nm. Remarkably, the Eu-CQDs served as an outstanding FL probe for the selective sensing of ferric ions (Fe 3+ ) and copper ions (Cu 2+ ) through FL dynamic quenching, especially photo-induced electron transfer (PET), while other metal ions produced minimal intensity changes. The detection limits were 65.6 nM for Cu 2+ and 72.1 nM for Fe 3+ , with a linear relationship observed in the range of 0–20 µM. However, the dynamic quenched FL of Eu-CQDs/Cu 2+ and Eu-CQDs/Fe 3+ was swiftly enhanced by EDTA via a turn-on response. The practical use of the Eu-CQDs probe for quantifying the Cu 2+ and Fe 3+ ion concentrations was conducted with real water samples, and the findings indicated satisfactory recoveries (101.1% for Cu 2+ and 104.8% for Fe 3+ ) and good reproducibility, which aligned with the results obtained from UV-Vis spectroscopy. Additionally, the WST assay was assess the cytotoxic effects of Eu-CQDs, and their capability to image live HCT-116 (human colon cancer cell line) cells was assessed. These results indicate that the Eu-CQDs used for the nanoscale sensing of Fe 3+ and Cu 2+ metal ions are both selective and sensitive, and they can be successfully used for live cell imaging of cancer cell lines when used with this probe.
SN  - 2045-2322
ER  -