Synthesis of Carbon Dots via Microwave-Assisted Process: Specific Sensing of Fe(III) and Antibacterial Activity

Carbon dots synthesized from a renewable and sustainable source of biomass have greater attention in the nanomaterial research field. In the present study, we adopted a facile and green synthesis of carbon dots from bio waste of pumpkin seeds using a one-pot microwave-assisted carbonization method. The synthesized carbon dots exhibit excellent photoluminescence properties with a bright blue emission peak at 399 nm and fluorescence quantum yield was about 9.5%. The optical properties and structure of carbon dots were examined using various spectroscopy techniques and the synthesized carbon practical size was about 4.37 nm and possessed good solubility in water. Carbon dots were used for the detection of Ferric ions in the water bodies and the interaction between Fe3+ ions and carbon dots was evaluated by fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. This method is a simple and selective detection of Fe3+ in the aqueous medium. Interestingly carbon dots also show good antibacterial activity at a very low concentration (1 mg/L) for effective control of E. coli 93% and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (81%), within 12 h.