A novel method for synthesis of carbon dots and their applications in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glucose detections.

A simple and novel method is proposed for preparation of water-soluble fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots), which have potential to be applied in detecting reactive oxygen species (ROS). The C-dots with high fluorescence quantum yield were created by hydrothermal methods with lactose as the carbon source and tris(hydroxylmethyl)aminomethane (Tris) as the surface passivation reagent. The C-dots have some unique characteristics such as excellent biocompatibility with a broad pH working range of 5-11 and high fluorescence, which makes them especially useful in the bio-detection field.