Tailoring vanadium-doped carbon dots as a peroxidase mimic for precise colorimetric sensing of myricetin

In order to guarantee the safety of food and quality control of drugs, it is crucial to develop a rapid, accurate and sensitive method for myricetin detection. In this study, vanadium-doped carbon dots (V-CDs) with peroxidase-like activity (POD) were synthesized through a one-step hydrothermal method. Based on the redox reaction between myricetin and the reactive oxygen species generated by V-CDs catalyzed H₂O₂, a colorimetric sensor was developed. This sensor featured high sensitivity, excellent selectivity and rapid detection capability, showing a good linear relationship within the range 1.0–50 µM, with a detection limit as low as 0.47 µM. Furthermore, using a smartphone a visual sensing platform was established and successfully realized monitoring of myricetin in samples. The proposed method avoids complex instrumentation and tedious sample pretreatment, making it highly suitable for on-site screening. This work not only presented a new type of carbon dots-nanozyme, but also provided an economical, user-friendly and detection method for myricetin.