Fluorescent carbon dots based phytosensor for indoor formaldehyde pollution monitoring

Indoor formaldehyde pollution released from household products is one of the major causes of several health diseases. Ornamental plants have been paid more attention recently to improve air quality and increase natural decorative appeal. Therefore, we aimed to use ornamental plants as a plant-based biosensor or phytosensor to monitor/detect indoor formaldehyde exposure. The synthesized carbon dots with nitrogen doping (N-doped CDs) in this study shows a big “turn-off” significant response with high selectivity to formaldehyde. The lowest formaldehyde concentration that gave the observable fluorescence quenching signal by naked eye on Fittonia albivenis (Nerve Plant) was 50.0 μg/L, which is lower than the exposure limit of 80.0 μg/L as indicated by World Health Organization. The results showed that ornamental plants with the aid of N-doped CDs can be developed into phytosensor for formaldehyde detection. Furthermore, findings in this study will be useful for the development of plant biosensor for other indoor air pollution monitoring.