Simple and Cost-Effective Glucose Detection Based on Carbon Nanodots Supported on Silver Nanoparticles

We present a new glucose oxidase (GOx)-mediated strategy for detecting glucose based on carbon nanodots supported on silver nanoparticles (C-dots/AgNPs) as nanocomplexes. The strategy involves three processes: quenching of C-dots’ fluorescence by AgNPs, production of H2O2 from GOx-catalyzed oxidation of glucose, and H2O2-induced etching of AgNPs. In the C-dots/AgNPs complex, AgNPs act as a “nanoquencher” to decrease C-dots fluorescence by surface plasmon-enhanced energy transfer (SPEET) from C-dots (donor) to AgNPs (acceptor). The H2O2 formed by GOx-catalyzed oxidation of glucose etches the AgNPs to silver ions, thus freeing the C-dots from the AgNPs surfaces and restoring the C-dots’ fluorescence. Therefore, the increase in fluorescence depends directly on the concentration of H2O2, which, in turn, depends on the concentration of glucose. The strategy allows the quantitative analysis of glucose with a detection limit of 1.39 μM. The method based on C-dots/AgNPs offers the following advantages: simplicity of design and facile preparation of nanomaterials, as well as low experimental cost, because chemical modification and separation procedures are not needed.