With the rapid development of nanotechnology,various types of sulfur nanomaterials have been devel-oped,including sulfur nanoparticles,sulfur quantum dots,and other sulfur-containing nanocomposites with hybrid structures.As a new type of"zero-dimensional"nano-luminescent material,sulfur quantum dots are attracting more and more attention from scholars due to their photoluminescence properties,low toxicity,and ease of preparation.First,this review explores the synthesis of sulfur quantum dots.Then,it introduces the progress and application of sulfur quantum dots as sensing materials in optical sensor technology,and discusses in depth their detection applica-tions in environmental contaminants and biological small molecules.Finally,it summarizes the current challenges faced by sulfur quantum dots and looks forward to their future development.