Amine-Rich Carbon Dots Synthesized from Kappa-Carrageenan and l-Lysine as a Dual Probe for Detection of Folic Acid and Tumor-Targeted Delivery of Therapeutics.

Strategically designed, heteroatom-rich surface functionalized blue fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized for high-throughput detection of folic acid (vitamin B9). The highly stable CDs could particularly detect vitamin B9 in the presence of 35 analytes, even up to 40 nM of the vitamin. The versatile CDs were found to have a high affinity for folic acid in wastewater, folic acid tablets, and food samples enriched with folic acid.