Field-portable ratiometric fluorescence imaging of dual-color label-free carbon dots for uranyl ions detection with cellphone-based optical platform

Under the public spotlight, uranyl (UO₂²⁺) ions has attracted considerable attention for the extreme radioactive and chemical toxicity to ourselves and our environment. Herein, we present a simple and effective ratiometric fluorescence imaging method for the visualizing and quantitative detection UO₂²⁺ ions by cellphone-based optical platform. The sensing solution was prepared by mixing label-free red carbon dots (r-CDs) and blue carbon dots (b-CDs) together with a fixed photoluminescence intensity ratio of 4:1. When UO₂²⁺ ions were added, the fluorescence of r-CDs can be selectively quenched, while the fluorescence of b-CDs remains stable without spectral changes. With the gradually increase the amounts of UO₂²⁺ ions, the different response of dual-color CDs resulted in a signification color evolution from deep red to dark purple under the ultraviolet (UV) light illumination. Then, a cellphone-based optical platform was constructed for directly imaging the color change of the samples, and the built-in Colorpicker APP quickly output the red, green and blue (RGB) channel values of these images within one second. Interesting, there was a linear relationship between the ratio of red and blue (R/B) channel values and UO₂²⁺ ions concentration from 0 μmol/L to 30.0 μmol/L (R² = 0.92804) with the detection limit of ~8.15 μmol/L (signal-to-noise ratio of 3). In addition, the optical platform has also been applied to the quantification of UO₂²⁺ ions in tap water and river water sample. With the advantage of low-cost, portable, easy to operation, we anticipate that this method would greatly improve the accessibility of UO₂²⁺ ions detection even in resource-limited areas.