A simple and green extraction of carbon dots from sugar beet molasses: Biosensor applications

Carbon dots emerged recently as a luminescent nanoparticles have received considerable attention. Carbon dots, which can be synthesized by different methods, have many application areas such as biosensor, bioimaging etc. In this study, carbon dots were extracted from a sugar beet molasses without using any other synthesis methods. Extracted carbon dots gave strong blue fluorescence under UV light. The characterization of carbon dots was performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Optic properties were determined by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Carbon dots were used as tool of biosensor in detection of riboflavin and tetracycline analyses. In riboflavin detection, fluorescence resonance energy (FRET) from carbon dots transferred to riboflavin and linear correlation was obtained between FRET efficiency and riboflavin concentration (R2=0.9904). Tetracycline decreased the fluorescence of carbon dots. There was a linear correlation between fluorescence decrease and tetracycline concentration (R2=0.9952). Extracted carbon dots can successfully be used in the determination of riboflavin and tetracycline.