@article{
author = "Dorontić, Slađana and Bonasera, Aurelio and Scopelliti, Michelangelo and Marković, Olivera and Verbić, Tatjana and Sredojević, Dušan and Ciasca, Gabriele and Di Santo, Riccardo and Mead, James L. and Budimir, Milica and Bajuk-Bogdanović, Danica and Mojsin, Marija and Pejić, Jelena and Stevanović, Milena and Jovanović, Svetlana",
year = "2024",
abstract = "The widespread usage of the herbicide glyphosate calls for urgent action, aiming at the development of new,
simple, low-cost, and eco-friendly detection approaches. In the last decade, investigation of graphene quantum
dots (GQDs) as potential optical probes for various pollutants rapidly grew, thanks to their easy-manipulative
structure, remarkable photoluminescence (PL) in the visible part of the spectrum, good dispersibility, biocom patibility, and non-toxicity, as well. Herein, a fast, simple, and environmentally friendly method for GQDs
structural modification is presented. GQDs raw powder was exposed to γ- rays at three different doses (100, 200,
and 300 kGy) in air, without any solvent or reagents. Irradiation of dots under such affordable conditions led to
the additional incorporation of oxygen-containing moieties in the GQD structure. For the first time, oxygen-rich
GQDs irradiated at a 300 kGy dose were successfully applied as direct turn-off PL probe for glyphosate detection.
The high coefficient of determination (R-squared (R2
) = 0.99) and very low limit of detection (3.02 μmol L-1)
reveal good linearity between the potential sensor and analyte, as well as sensitivity. Glyphosate was successfully
detected in celery samples, with a recovery value of 107 ± 0.85%. To evaluate the biological safety of the
proposed sensing probe, [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] (MTT) and the hemo lysis assays were performed. Obtained results show that irradiated and non-irradiated GQDs did not cause the
death of MRC-5 cells, and hemolysis of erythrocytes. The obtained results demonstrate that GQDs irradiated in an
air medium can be potentially applied for glyphosate detection.",
publisher = "Elsevier",
journal = "Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering",
title = "High-performing structural optimization of graphene quantum dots as glyphosate herbicide photoluminescent probes: real case studies and mechanism insights",
volume = "12",
number = "4",
pages = "113193",
doi = "10.1016/j.jece.2024.113193"
}
