Boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots as a chemiluminescence probe for sensitive assay of rifampicin

In the present work, the outstanding behavior of boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots (B,N-CDs) in a chemiluminescence (CL) reaction was investigated and utilized for the assay of antibiotic drug, rifampicin. A strong amplifying effect was observed for B,N-CDs on the Ce(IV) – SO32- CL system with the enhancement factor reaching up to 800. This effect was compared to that of corresponding single atom-doped and undoped CDs, demonstrating the unique enhancing activity of B,N-CDs. According to the CL spectrum, the emitting species in this system was B,N-CD. Besides, it was found that even nanomolar quantities of rifampicin can remarkably reduce the CL intensity. The possible mechanism of this action was studied by UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. These observations formed a basis for developing a chemosensor for assay of rifampicin in the range of 0.2 to 150 nM with a limit of detection of 0.05 nM. The assessment of selectivity and recoveries confirmed that the CL probe has suitable accuracy and precision for the analysis of biological samples.