LAUSR

Abstract The efficiency of cyclodextrin-carbon nanotube composites (CD-CNT) for cholesterol detection was investigated using their fluorescent yields in the presence of rhodamine 6G (R6G). The CD-CNT composites using α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrin (x-CD) all showed strong fluorescent responses to cholesterol when in the presence of R6G. The α-CD based composites, however, exhibit more dramatic fluorescent changes in response to cholesterol, over a wider range of cholesterol concentrations, and also display the highest binding constant of 2.98 × 10 5  M −1 with cholesterol. The effectiveness of these fluorescent responses for the detection of cholesterol depends primarily on the concentration and cavity size of the CD.