<![CDATA[Progesterone is an important steroid hormone involved in reproductive regulation and hormonal homeostasis, making its accurate determination essential for clinical and biomedical applications. In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were synthesized from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) waste using o-phenylenediamine (o-PD) via a hydrothermal method and applied as a fluorescent biosensor for progesterone detection. Carbon dots (CDs) have attracted significant interest as fluorescent nanomaterials due to their excellent optical properties, stability, and biocompatibility. The synthesis condition of N- CDs was 180°C for 4 h, producing N-CDs with an average hydrodynamic size of 5.04 nm based on DLS analysis, while LR-TEM analysis showed individual N- CDs with an average size of 3.6 nm. The N-CDs exhibited good stability under pH 6–7. The sensing mechanism relied on a fluorescence on–off–on system involving N-CDs, H2O2, and progesterone, in which H2O2 quenched fluorescence via photoinduced electron transfer (PET), while progesterone restored the signal by inhibiting electron transfer. The developed sensor exhibited a linear response over the range of 20–100 nM, with an R2 of 0.9956 and an LOD of 5.827 nM. Furthermore, the sensor exhibited recovery in fetal bovine serum (132.41% and 73.98%) with RSD values below 1%, demonstrating its potential as a simple and sensitive platform for progesterone detection in complex biological samples.]]>
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