L-tryptophan carbon dots as a fluorescent probe for malachite green detection

[Display omitted] •Highly fluorescent and water soluble carbon dots (C-dots) were prepared using L-tryptophan by a simple one pot technique.•A Fluorescence based sensor was developed for the rapid detection of Malachite Green (MG)•Real-time analysis of MG in green peas using the proposed sensor. Development of a rapid and sensitive detection method for hazardous dyes attracts considerable research interest. In this work, L-Tryptophan-based Carbon dots were developed as a fluorescence sensor for the detection of Malachite green (MG). Green fluorescent L-Trp-C-dots were synthesized by a simple pyrolysis technique using L-Trp as the starting precursor. L-Trp-C-dots exhibited different quenching responses to MG, and other interfering species, consequently offering a selective strategy to detect MG. The proposed sensor shows a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.06 μM and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.22 μM with in the linearity range of 0 to 60 µM concentration. Additionally, the relative standard deviation (RSD) was found to be below 1.7 %. Furthermore, the recovery of MG from the real-time samples (green peas) was investigated.