Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of surface state engineered BN-carbon quantum dots for fluoroquinolone sensing: DFT insights.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, South Korea; High-tech Medical Equipment Research Institute, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, South Korea.
- 2Department of Environmental Science, Periyar University, Salem 636011, Tamil Nadu, India.
- 3Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, South Korea; High-tech Medical Equipment Research Institute, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, South Korea; High-tech Medical Equipment Research Institute, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
The development of ultrasound-assisted strategies for synthesizing carbon-based nanomaterials has attracted increasing attention owing to the unique physicochemical properties and broad environmental applications. In this study, highly fluorescent surface-state-engineered boron- and nitrogen-co-doped carbon quantum dots (BN-CQDs) were synthesized via an ultrasound-assisted hydrothermal approach using an ultrasonic bath operating at 160 W and a fixed frequency of 37 kHz. The ultrasound-assisted process, together with boron and nitrogen, influenced the physicochemical and optical properties of the resulting BN-CQDs, yielding well-dispersed nanodots with surface-active functional groups and suitable optical properties for the detection of fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The synthesized BN-CQDs were systematically characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, PL, FTIR, XRD, and XPS. The BN-CQDs exhibited intense blue fluorescence with maximum excitation and emission wavelengths of 380 and 440 nm, respectively, and a high fluorescent quantum yield of 56.8%, highlighting their favorable optical properties for sensing. The fluorescence intensity decreased gradually with increasing concentrations of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and levofloxacin (LVX), primarily attributed to photoinduced electron-transfer and charge-transfer interactions between antibiotic molecules and the surface-active functional groups of the BN-CQDs. Under optimized conditions, the developed fluorescent nanoprobe exhibited a linear response over the concentration range of 0 to 50μmol L⁻¹, with low detection limits of 0.286μmol L⁻¹ for CIP and 0.320μmol L⁻¹ for LVX. Moreover, the sensing platform exhibited excellent selectivity against common metal ions, biomolecules, and interfering antibiotics. Its practical applicability was validated by satisfactory recoveries of 98.0 to 102.0% for CIP and LVX in drinking and tap water samples. DFT calculations provided further insights into the charge-transfer interactions responsible for fluorescence quenching. The ultrasound-assisted synthesis of BN-CQDs provides a promising sonochemical route for developing fluorescent nanoprobes for the sensitive detection of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.
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BibTeX
@article{elango2026ultrasoundassisted,
title = {{Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of surface state engineered BN-carbon quantum dots for fluoroquinolone sensing: DFT insights.}},
author = {Duraisamy Elango and Velu Subash and Palaniyappan Jayanthi and Velu Manikandan and Kwang Soup Song},
journal = {Ultrasonics sonochemistry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.108094},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42832877},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of surface state engineered BN-carbon quantum dots for fluoroquinolone sensing: DFT insights.
AU - Duraisamy Elango
AU - Velu Subash
AU - Palaniyappan Jayanthi
AU - Velu Manikandan
AU - Kwang Soup Song
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Ultrasonics sonochemistry
DO - 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.108094
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42832877
AB - The development of ultrasound-assisted strategies for synthesizing carbon-based nanomaterials has attracted increasing attention owing to the unique physicochemical properties and broad environmental applications. In this study, highly fluorescent surface-state-engineered boron- and nitrogen-co-doped carbon quantum dots (BN-CQDs) were synthesized via an ultrasound-assisted hydrothermal approach using an ultrasonic bath operating at 160 W and a fixed frequency of 37 kHz. The ultrasound-assisted process, together with boron and nitrogen, influenced the physicochemical and optical properties of the resulting BN-CQDs, yielding well-dispersed nanodots with surface-active functional groups and suitable optical properties for the detection of fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The synthesized BN-CQDs were systematically characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, PL, FTIR, XRD, and XPS. The BN-CQDs exhibited intense blue fluorescence with maximum excitation and emission wavelengths of 380 and 440 nm, respectively, and a high fluorescent quantum yield of 56.8%, highlighting their favorable optical properties for sensing. The fluorescence intensity decreased gradually with increasing concentrations of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and levofloxacin (LVX), primarily attributed to photoinduced electron-transfer and charge-transfer interactions between antibiotic molecules and the surface-active functional groups of the BN-CQDs. Under optimized conditions, the developed fluorescent nanoprobe exhibited a linear response over the concentration range of 0 to 50μmol L⁻¹, with low detection limits of 0.286μmol L⁻¹ for CIP and 0.320μmol L⁻¹ for LVX. Moreover, the sensing platform exhibited excellent selectivity against common metal ions, biomolecules, and interfering antibiotics. Its practical applicability was validated by satisfactory recoveries of 98.0 to 102.0% for CIP and LVX in drinking and tap water samples. DFT calculations provided further insights into the charge-transfer interactions responsible for fluorescence quenching. The ultrasound-assisted synthesis of BN-CQDs provides a promising sonochemical route for developing fluorescent nanoprobes for the sensitive detection of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.
SN - 1350-4177
SN - 1873-2828
ER -