CDs are prepared using CA as carbon precursor and DETA as the passivation reagent.
Hg2+ quenched the fluorescence of CDs via photo-induced electron transfer (PET).
I- restored the fluorescence of the CDs/ Hg2+ by blocking the PET process.
A CDs-based “off–on” fluorescent probe for I− detection was established.
The detection method is facile, low-cost, highly sensitive and selective.