EUROPIUM DOPED CARBON DOTS FOR SELECTIVE AND SENSITIVE DETECTION OF TETRACYCLINE

Abstract

Tetracycline (TC) overuse in livestock farms has resulted in its widespread presence in water bodies, which can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and human health. Therefore, the aims of current study are to develop rapid, low-cost, shelf-life stable, sensitive, and selective detection method for TC antibiotic in water. As a result, an optical detection agent based on europium-doped carbon dots (Eu-CDs) was synthesized and extensivity characterized by physical-chemical methods. We found that after optimization process, the linear range of TC detection was found to be 0.01-5 μM, with an impressive limit of detection of 6.5 nM. The selectivity analysis with other antibiotics revealed that Eu-CDs are selective to TC only and show negligible response to other TC derivatives. It was shown that optimal pH for TC detection was ~ 7, and Eu-CDs retain high detection ability even in high sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. These results suggest that Eu-CDs can be used as a quick and effective colorimetric agent for TC detection in water samples.