Facile synthesis of carbon nitride quantum dots as a highly selective and sensitive fluorescent sensor for the tetracycline detection

Enhanced blue fluorescent carbon nitride quantum dots (g-C(3)N(4)QDs) were synthesized by a simple solvothermal “tailoring” process from bulk g-C(3)N(4) and analyzed by various characterization methods. The as-obtained g-C(3)N(4)QDs were successfully applied in the determination of tetracycline (TC) with a good linear relationship in the range of 0.23–202.70 μM. The proposed fluorescent sensor shows excellent stability, good repeatability, high selectivity and outstanding sensitivity to TC with a low detection limit of 0.19 μM. The fluorescence quenching mechanism of g-C(3)N(4)QDs with TC was mainly governed by static quenching and the inner filter effect. The method was successfully applied to monitor TC in tap water and milk powder samples.