Amino acid-assisted carbon quantum dots for bioimaging, Picric acid detection, antibacterial activity, and prefabrication of Pd nanoparticles as a potent nanocatalyst for coupling reactions and reduction of nitrophenols

Using bottle gourd peel and arginine, the hydrothermal sustainable approach was employed to synthesize blue emissive nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (NCQD) with a quantum yield of 29.40%. The excitation-dependent action of NCQD led to its choice for the detection of picric acid (PA), bioimaging investigations for MCF-7 (breast cancer) cells, and as an antibacterial agent against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia bacteria. The limit of detection (LoD) for picric cid was discovered to be 10 nM. Palladium nanoparticles (Pd nanoparticles) were prepared from the synthesized NCQD, where the NCQD served as both a reducing and stabilizing agent for the Pd nanoparticles. Several spectroscopic methods were also used to analyze the nanoparticles. The wide surface area and small Pd nanoparticles make them an ideal catalyst for reducing nitrophenols in aqueous medium and denitrogenative cross-coupling reactions.