Recent advances and perspectives of functionalized carbon dots in bacteria sensing

Bacterial infectious diseases are severe threats to human health and increase substantial financial burdens. Nanomaterials have shown great potential in timely and accurate bacterial identification, detection, and monitoring to improve the cure rate and reduce mortality. Recently, carbon dots have been evidenced to be ideal candidates for bacterial identification and detection due to their superior physicochemical properties and biocompatibility. This review outlines the detailed recognition elements and recognition strategies with functionalized carbon dots (FCDs) for bacterial identification and detection. The advantages and limitations of different kinds of FCDs-based sensors will be critically discussed. Meanwhile, the ongoing challenges and perspectives of FCDs-based sensors for bacteria sensing are put forward. Graphical abstract