Developing carbon quantum dots with high throughput and quantum yields is important to boost their application in environmental detection. This study proposes nitrogen, sulfur co-doped carbon quantum dots as a fluorescent probe for mercury detection in an aqueous environment, which was synthesized by a facile and high-output tactic using methyl orange as a precursor for the first time. Results demonstrate that the obtained carbon quantum dots have a high selectivity, low detection limit of 237 nM, and fast response time, approximately 30 s, for trace mercury. The detection mechanism involves the synergistic action of static quenching, inner filter effect, and photo-induced electron transfer. Moreover, results show a high product yield (75.6%) and quantum yield (29.4%), which are higher compared to previous studies. These findings indicate that developed carbon quantum dots are promising sensing nanomaterials for mercury detection.

开发具有高通量和量子产率的碳量子点对于促进其在环境检测中的应用非常重要。本研究提出氮、硫共掺杂碳量子点作为水环境中汞检测的荧光探针，首次以甲基橙为前驱体，通过简便、高输出的策略合成。结果表明，所获得的碳量子点对痕量汞具有高选择性、低检测限（237 nM）和快速响应时间（约30 s）。检测机制涉及静态猝灭、内过滤效应和光诱导电子转移的协同作用。此外，结果显示出较高的产物产率（75.6%）和量子产率（29.4%），高于之前的研究。这些发现表明，开发的碳量子点是有前途的用于汞检测的传感纳米材料。