Excitonic and Optical Transduction Mechanisms in Quantum Dot Sensors for Environmental Pollutant Detection

Abstract

The accelerating contamination of global ecosystems by heavy metal ions, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs), and emerging contaminants demands sensing technologies that are rapid, sensitive, selective, and field-deployable. Quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as leading candidates for environmental sensing; however, their performance is often interpreted empirically rather than through a unified understanding of the underlying excitonic physics. This narrative review presents a mechanistically integrated framework for QD-based environmental sensing, establishing the exciton, the spatially confined electron–hole quasiparticle, as the primary signal carrier in the most analytically powerful QD sensing modalities. A critical distinction is drawn between three categories of signal-generating processes: genuine excitonic transduction (photoinduced electron transfer, trap-state modulation, FRET, charge-transfer exciton formation, and binding energy modulation); non-excitonic optical phenomena, including the inner filter effect and light scattering, which are frequently misattributed as excitonic responses; and partially excitonic processes such as certain electrochemiluminescence pathways. Exciton fundamentals, confinement effects, and the influence of defects, dopants, and surface states are examined across carbon, chalcogenide, perovskite, and III–V QD families. A Defect–Exciton Energy Map is introduced as a rational design tool linking defect characteristics to excitonic response regime and sensing modality. Application of the mechanistic framework to heavy metal ions, PFASs, microplastics, and emerging contaminants demonstrates that sensing performance differences are mechanistically predictable from excitonic parameters rather than being arbitrary outcomes of materials choice. Benchmarking against competing platforms identifies conditions under which QD sensors offer genuine advantages. The roles of density functional theory, molecular dynamics, and machine learning in enabling rational sensor design are assessed. Key challenges, including stability, real-sample validation, standardisation, and toxicity, and future directions, including QD/two-dimensional material heterostructures and circular economy carbon QD platforms, are identified.