New europium-doped carbon nanoparticles showing long-lifetime photoluminescence: Synthesis, characterization and application to the determination of tetracycline in waters

[Display omitted] •Europium-doped carbon nanoparticles were synthetized and characterized.•Delayed photoluminescence of europium-doped carbon nanoparticles was studied and its behavior in different environments was evaluated.•A tetracycline photoluminescent sensor was developed.•An efficient and synergistic sensitization of europium photoluminescence was achieved by means of the simultaneous presence of carbon nanoparticles and tetracycline.•Tetracycline analytical determination was performed in natural waters. The growing appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains of microorganisms originated from the widespread use and ubiquitous presence of such drugs is a major concern in the world. The development of methodologies able to detect such substances at low concentration in real water samples is mandatory to overcome this problem. Europium(III) is known to form complexes with tetracycline (TC) with photoluminescent characteristics useful for TC determination. In the present work, we synthesized for the first time carbon nanoparticles (CN) showing delayed photoluminescence using a Europium(III) doping synthesis. The new material (PCNEu) was characterized both morphologically and spectroscopically, showing an analytical photoluminescent signal in presence of TC, arising from the 5D0→7F2 transition of europium, one hundred times higher than that of the europium salt alone in presence of the antibiotic. This enhancement is a consequence of the amplifying effect exerted by nanoparticle structure itself, leading to an efficient synergistic “antenna effect” in the system PCNEu - TC. The analytical signal is affected both by pH and the nature of the buffer used, and it allows the detection of tetracycline in waters with a limit of detection of 2.18 nM and recoveries between 90 and 110%. The analytical performance of the developed methodology enables having lower limits of detection than other luminescent and chemiluminescent reported methodologies.