Green synthesis of fluorescence carbon nanoparticles from yum and application in sensitive and selective detection of ATP

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CPs), a fascinating class of recently discovered nanocarbons, have been widely known as some of the most promising sensing probes in biological or chemical analysis. In this study, we demonstrate a green synthetic methodology for generating water-soluble CPs with a quantum yield of approximately 24% via a simple heating process using yum mucilage as a carbon source. The prepared carbon nanoparticles with an similar to 10nm size possessed excellent fluorescence properties, and the fluorescence of the CPs was strongly quenched by Fe3+, and recovered by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), thus, an off' and on' system can be easily established. This CPs-Fe3+-ATP' strategy was sensitive and selective at detecting ATP with the linear range of 0.5 mu molL(-1) to 50 mu molL(-1) and with a detection limit of 0.48 mu molL(-1). Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.