Carbon dots for real-time colorimetric/fluorescent dual-mode sensing ClO−/GSH

Hypochlorite (ClO−) and antioxidants have been reported closely correlated with oxidative stress and related diseases. In recent years, many probes, especially fluorescent and colorimetric probes, have been developed to detect ClO− and antioxidants. It is meaningful to develop probes which can be used to detect them in these two modes. Herein, a novel dual mode carbon dots (DM-CDs) which can rapidly respond to ClO− and antioxidants by both fluorescent and colorimetric mode were synthesized. GSH was chosen as model antioxidants to evaluate its detection performance. The fluorescence of DM-CDs can be quenched by ClO− and then recovered by GSH, so sensitive and accurate detection of ClO− and GSH can be achieved. Meanwhile, the colour variation of this system can be observed by naked eye and detected quantitatively by UV–Vis spectra. The excellent analytical performance of DM-CDs together with their good biocompatibility endow them with great feasibility in cell imaging and real-time detection of intracellular ClO− and GSH.