Preparation of Carbon Quantum Dots from Traditional Chinese Medicine Residues and their Application in Metal Ion Detection

Authors

  • Juping Yan School of Environmental and Resource, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China; Shanxi Key Laboratory of Coordinated Management and Control for Environmental Quality, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
  • Jiaxin Liu School of Environmental and Resource, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
  • Kaihui Feng School of Environmental and Resource, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
  • Jie Luo School of Environmental and Resource, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
  • Yiru Wang School of Environmental and Resource, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
  • Ningning Zhang School of Environmental and Resource, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China

Keywords:

Chinese medicine residues, Carbon dots, Metal ion detection

Abstract

The disposal of residues from traditional Chinese medicine results in resource waste and poses non-negligible environmental concerns. While the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) from green raw materials has been widely studied, the use of Chinese medicine residues (CMR) which are rich in ligno-cellulosic components as a carbon source for CDs preparation remained largely unexplored. Notably, converting CMR into carbon dots (CMR-CDs) offered a dual benefit: it enhanced resource utilization and mitigated the environmental impact of these waste materials. In this study, CMR-CDs were synthesized via a simple, eco-friendly one-step hydrothermal method for metal ion detection. The CMR-CDs demonstrated highly selective fluorescence quenching toward Fe³⁺, with a strong linear correlation (R² = 0.999) between fluorescence intensity and Fe³⁺ concentration (0 to 516 μmol/L). The detection limit was determined to be 6.0 μmol/L. These findings suggest that CMR-CDs hold significant potential for rapid and sensitive Fe³⁺ detection in future applications, while also highlighting the value of ligno-cellulosic waste in sustainable nanomaterial synthesis.

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Published

2025-10-17

How to Cite

Yan, J., Liu, J., Feng, K., Luo, J., Wang, Y., & Zhang, N. (2025). Preparation of Carbon Quantum Dots from Traditional Chinese Medicine Residues and their Application in Metal Ion Detection. BioResources, 20(4), 10406–10413. Retrieved from https://ojs.bioresources.com/index.php/BRJ/article/view/25089

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 4 (2025)

Section

Research Article or Brief Communication