The S, N-MQDs exhibited high efficiency in detecting Cu
2+. A significant decrease (near-quenching) in fluorescence is observed upon the addition of 100 μmol/L Cu
2+ (
Fig. 4a). The fluorescence intensity quickly quenched with the addition of Cu
2+ within 0.5 min. Therefore, 0.5 min is defined as the detection time in this experiment for the detection of Cu
2+.
Fig. 4b illustrates the change in the fluorescence intensity of the S, N-MQDs in the presence of increasing concentrations of Cu
2+. Each spectrum was recorded after 5 min equilibration. A good linear relationship is reached between the loss of the PL intensity of the S, N-MQDs and the Cu
2+ concentration in the range of 2–1000 μmol/L and 1000–5000 μmol/L. The limit of detection was as low as 2 μmol/L (
Fig. 4c), displaying great potential for the trace level detection of Cu
2+. This apparent change in the fluorescence intensity can be attributed to the fact that Cu
2+ promotes electron/hole recombination annihilation by an alternative and efficient electron transfer process, resulting in the change in the morphology and electron state on the surface of the S, N-MQDs. Moreover, the changes seen in the S, N-MQDs fluorescence lifetime (
Fig. 4d) and UV–vis absorption (
Fig. 4e) demonstrate that the surface state of the S, N-MQDs is modified by the added Cu
2+. In the practical application of ion detection, the selectivity of MQDs quenching is also critical to remove the fast response and detection limit. In order to evaluate the selectivity of the proposed Cu
2+ sensor, various univalent, bivalent and trivalent ions were detected. Here, we added 9 different metal ions, including Ce
3+, Mn
2+, Mg
2+, Zn
2+, Ba
2+, Fe
3+, Na
+, K
+ and In
3+, to the S, N-MQDs solution, and recorded the DF of each interfering ion at 390 nm. As can be seen from
Fig. 4f, the fluorescence of S, N-MQDs was only largely quenched after the addition of Cu
2+, while the effect of other metal ions on the fluorescence quenching of S, N-MQDs was very small. According to previous research [
25,
27], Cu
2+ exist on the surface of S, N-MQDs in the form of monovalent and divalent, which reduces the degree of surface oxidation and performs an alternative and effective electron transfer process. This coordination interaction promotes the possibility of non-radiative electron/hole recombination, and S, N-MQDs aggregate into a large complex form. Due to the size effect, excitations are lost through photon scattering, and the fluorescence of S, N-MQDs is finally quenched. Therefore, the quenching mechanism can be captured by the amino groups of S, N-MQDs and form complexes on the surface of the quantum dots and the agglomeration of them in the Cu
2+ solution, leading to strong quenching of S, N-MQDs through internal filtering. To further explain the mechanism, a schematic mechanism was proposed, as shown in
Fig. 5. The specificity and selectivity of S, N-MQDs in Cu
2+ detection provides an important contribution to S, N-MQDs' new role in protecting and monitoring the environment.