A novel, green approach for the synthesis of highly fluorescent carbon dots with 28% quantum yield by utilizing onion waste as precursor and employing a simple autoclave is reported, and applied them as Fe³⁺ sensor & multi-coloured imaging agents.

A facile and eco-friendly method for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been developed using gum tragacanth (GT) (Astragalus gummifer), an abundantly available natural phyto-exudate in India, employing a novel method of ultrasonication process. Silver nanoparticles were prepared by the reduction of silver nitrate solution by the aqueous extract of gum tragacanth by ultrasonication method at 45 °C for about 45 min. The aqueous extract of the gum acts as a reducing as well as stabilizing agent. The resultant AgNPs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The influence of gum concentration and silver precursor concentration on the synthesis of AgNPs was studied. The role and effectiveness of nanoparticles in the catalytic reduction of a cationic dye methylene blue (MB), and an anionic azo dye Congo red (CR), were also studied. FTIR analysis revealed that –OH groups present in the gum matrix might be responsible for the reduction of Ag+ into AgNPs. The X-ray diffraction studies indicated that the resulting AgNPs were highly crystalline with face-centered cubic geometry. TEM studies showed that the average particle size of the synthesized AgNPs was 18 ± 2 nm. The study highlights the green synthesis of GT-capped AgNPs and the rapid reduction of carcinogenic and toxic contaminants such as MB and CR with the help of GT-capped AgNPs in an eco-friendly manner.

The present work is emphasized on converting toxic cigarette butts (CBs) into highly fluorescent N,S-codoped carbon dots by a facile hydrothermal approach and exploring their multiple applications. The as-produced carbon dots (CBCDs) exhibited bright and stable fluorescence with a quantum yield of 26% and used as a label-free probe for “on–off–on” sequential detection of Fe³⁺ and ascorbic acid (AA). The fluorescence of CBCDs can be significantly quenched by Fe³⁺ ions through static quenching and restored upon the subsequent addition of AA due to the reduction of Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ by AA. This nanoprobe presented great selectivity and excellent sensitivity to Fe³⁺ and AA with a detection limit of 0.13 and 0.2 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the nanoprobe was extended to biosystem (intracellular detection) and successfully applied for the detection of Fe³⁺ in real water (tap, bore, and pond) and AA in biological samples (human urine and serum). In addition, we have constructed an IMPLICATION logic gate based on these unique sensing characteristics. The “visible–invisible” and “UV–visible” property explored their use as invisible ink for security applications. Furthermore, highly photostable fluorescent polymer films were prepared by incorporating CBCDs in poly(vinyl alcohol). It is anticipated that the strong and stable fluorescence emission nature of these films might find direct or indirect applications in various optical/optoelectronic devices, ranging from fluorescent displays to light-emitting diodes.