Abstract
Highly fluorescent nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) were prepared by a single-step method based on microwave heating of cane sugar and urea. The produced N-CQDs were applied as nano-sensors for the spectrofluorimetric determination of eplerenone and spironolactone. A strong emission band at 376 nm was obtained after excitation at 216 nm due to the produced N-CQDs. The native fluorescence of N-CQDs was obviously quenched upon adding increased concentrations of each drug. A strong correlation was found between the fluorescence quenching of N-CQDs and the concentration of each drug. The method was found to be linear over the range of 0.5 to 5.0 μg/mL for eplerenone and 0.5 to 6.0 μg/mL for spironolactone with LOQ of 0.383 μg/mL and 0.262 μg/mL. The developed method was further extended for determination of both drugs in their pharmaceutical tablets and spiked human plasma. The results obtained were statistically compared with those of reported methods. The mechanism of fluorescence quenching of N-CQDs by the two drugs was discussed.