Sustainable synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots from Zanthoxylum armatum for environmental lead monitoring.

In this research work, Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots (N-CQDs) were prepared by developing a green, sustainable approach on the basis of Zanthoxylum armatum leaf. The N-CQDs that have been synthesized have good optical characteristics and have been investigated in the sensitive and selective detection of Pb ions in aqueous solution. The different types of characterization methods were used to examine the structure, morphology, and optical characteristics of the N-CQDs. These were UV- Visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectrophotometry, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, powder X- ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These results are validated by the quenching of fluorescence of these N-CQDs when exposed to Pb ions, which demonstrates the possibility of these N-CQDs to serve as nano-sensors to detect heavy metal ions with a detection limit of 1.66 μM. The focus on the natural material and synthesis that is environmentally friendly highlights the sustainability of the given work.