A fluorescent sensor based on thioglycolic acid capped cadmium sulfide quantum dots for the determination of dopamine.

A fluorescent sensor based on thioglycolic acid-capped cadmium sulfide quantum dots (TGA-CdS QDs) has been designed for the sensitive and selective detection of dopamine (DA). In the presence of dopamine (DA), the addition of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) activates the reaction between the carboxylic group of the TGA and the amino group of dopamine to form an amide bond, quenching the fluorescence of the QDs. The fluorescence intensity of TGA-CdS QDs can be used to sense the presence of dopamine with a limit of detection of 0.68μM and a working linear range of 1.0-17.5μM. This sensor system shows great potential application for dopamine detection in dopamine drug samples and for future easy-to-make analytical devices.