Europium-modified carbon nitride nanosheets for smartphone-based fluorescence sensitive recognition of anthrax biomarker dipicolinic acid

Development of selective and sensitive methods for the detection of 2, 6-dipicolinic acid (DPA), a biomarker produced by bacterial spores, is of great significance for maintaining public health and food safety. Herein, a ratiometric fluorescence strategy using graphene carbon nitride (g-C3N4) coupled with Eu3+ is designed for the assay of DPA. As the concentration of DPA increases, the emission intensity of g-C3N4 kept constant which acted as a stable internal reference, while the fluorescence of Eu3+ was enhanced obviously due to the antenna effect. The linear calibration ranged from 0.1 to 15 μM with a detection limit of 13 nM was obtained. More Importantly, a paper-based sensor with a smartphone was successfully combined to perform colorimetric and visual detection of DPA in situ. This method has good performance for the detection of DPA, which is expected to broaden the application prospects of preliminary biomarker monitoring.