A novel “turn-on” fluorometric and magnetic bi-functional strategy for ascorbic acid sensing and in vivo imaging via carbon dots-MnO2 nanosheet nanoprobe

Ascorbic acid (AA) is an essential vitamin and plays an irreplaceable role in humans’ daily life. Therefore, it is of profound significance to develop effective strategies for AA sensing. Herein, a novel bi-functional sensing strategy was developed by using carbon dots (CDs) and MnO2 nanosheet as the fluorometric/magnetic signal source. When AA was absence, the fluorescence of CDs was quenched by MnO2 nanosheet due to the inner filter effect. Neither the fluorescence nor magnetic signal of the nanoprobe can be detected. In the presence of AA, a redox reaction occurred between MnO2 nanosheet and AA resulting in the generation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) response Mn2+ and decomposing of MnO2 nanosheet structure, thus leading to the recovery of CDs fluorescence. The detection limit of the AA was determined to be 2.89 μM with a linear range of 0–80 μM in fluorescence mode, and detection limit of 0.776 μM with a linear range of 0–80 μM in MRI mode when used transverse relaxation rate as signal. Furthermore, the developed fluorometric/magnetic bi-functional nanoprobe showed good biocompatibility, high response rate, high selectivity towards AA and could be used to analyses AA in real samples. Moreover, in vivo imaging of AA in mice was achieved in magnetic mode. The fluorometric/magnetic bi-function sensor for AA detection was introduced, which provided a novel strategy for sensor design based on CDs. [Display omitted] •A novel bi-functional sensing strategy was designed based on inner filter effect.•Fluorometric/magnetic signals were activated by redox reaction between AA and MnO2.•Both in vitro and in vivo AA detection were achieved.