Dual-Emission Carbonized Polymer Dots Combined with Metal Ions as a Single-Component Fluorescence Sensor Array for Pattern Recognition of Glycosaminoglycans

Herein, a novel dual-emission fluorescence sensor array of carbonized polymer dots (CPDs)-Cu²⁺ has been proposed, in which CPDs were prepared by one-pot hydrothermal method and Cu²⁺ acting as a quencher was combined with CPDs by electrostatic interaction. Four negatively charged glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) bearing different hydrophilic groups showed variable binding affinities towards CPDs-Cu²⁺. Upon reacting with these GAGs, the different fluorescence response signals of CPDs-Cu²⁺ can be further differentiated by principal component analysis (PCA). The CPDs-Cu²⁺ sensor array, not only allows the identification of four similarly structured GAGs, but also realizes the discrimination of different concentrations of the same GAGs and their mixtures. Remarkably, the identification of GAGs in biological fluids can also be achieved using our proposed single-component sensor array, validating its application potential. This new strategy avoids multiple sensing probes, broadens the application of tongue-mimic sensor arrays and provides a viable idea for the development of single component sensing platforms.