Polyvinylpyrrolidone-passivated fluorescent iron oxide quantum dots for turn-off detection of tetracycline in biological fluids

Sri Sudewi ^a,b, Lutfi Chabib ^c, Muhammad Zulfajri ^d, Gangaraju Gedda ^e, Genin G. Huang ^a,f,g,*

^a Department of Medicinal and Applied Chemistry, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan

^b Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Sam Ratulangi, Manado, 95115, Indonesia

^c Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, 55584, Indonesia

^d Department of Chemistry Education, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Banda Aceh, Aceh, 23245, Indonesia

^e Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering, Presidency University, Bangalore, 560064, Karnataka, India

^f Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan

^g Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan

Tetracycline is an antibiotic that has been prescribed for COVID-19 treatment, raising concerns about antibiotic resistance after long-term use. This study reported fluorescent polyvinylpyrrolidone-passivated iron oxide quantum dots (IO QDs) for detecting tetracycline in biological fluids for the first time. The as-prepared IO QDs have an average size of 2.84 nm and exist a good stability under different conditions. The IO QDs’ tetracycline detection performance could be attributed to a combination of static quenching and inner filter effect. The IO QDs displayed high sensitivity and selectivity toward tetracycline and achieved a good linear relationship with the corresponding detection limit being 91.6 nM.

Keywords: Fluorescence sensor, Iron oxide quantum dots, Tetracycline, Turn-off

https://doi.org/10.38212/2224-6614.3440

(https://www.jfda-online.com/journal/vol31/iss1/12/)