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Lead ion (Pb²⁺) is a very poisonous heavy metal, which is widely present in industrial wastewater and poses a serious health hazard even at low quantities. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) offer a promising alternative as a sensor for heavy metal ion detection, as they are fluorescent, non-toxic, and can be synthesized from sustainable biomass. This study utilizes raw oil palm trunk (OPT) as a green precursor for synthesizing CQDs via a rapid microwave-assisted method for Pb²⁺ detection. The photoluminescence spectra show an excitation peak decreased from 411.5 nm to 390 nm, indicating a quenching effect after Pb²⁺ was introduced in the CQDs. The bandgap energy obtained from this analysis is 4.75 eV, which was obtained by Tauc plot analysis based on UV-Vis data. The size distribution of the CQDs, which was 29.80 nm, reduced to 22.79 nm and was obtained using DLS analysis. The presence of functional groups such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, and aliphatic in the samples was demonstrated in FTIR analysis.
