One step synthesis of efficient red emissive carbon dots and their bovine serum albumin composites with enhanced multi-photon fluorescence for in vivo bioimaging

Abstract

Efficient red emissive carbon dots (CDs) in aqueous solutions are very scarce for high performance bioimaging applications. In this work, we report a one-step solvothermal treatment to synthesize pure red emissive CDs (FA-CDs) from citric acid and urea in formic acid without complicated purification procedures. Photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 43.4% was observed in their dimethyl sulfoxide solutions. High PLQY up to 21.9% in aqueous solutions was achieved in their bovine serum albumin (BSA) composites (FA-CDs@BSA) with significantly enhanced multi-photon fluorescence. The strong surface electron-withdrawing structure of FA-CDs caused by the high content of C = O groups contributes for their pure red emission. Owing to the significantly enhanced single and multi-photon red fluorescence and enlarged particle sizes after composing with BSA, in vivo tumor imaging and two-photon fluorescence imaging of blood vessels in mouse ear have been realized via intravenous injection of FA-CDs@BSA aqueous solutions.

Photocatalytic Pt(IV)‐Coordinated Carbon Dots for Precision Tumor Therapy

“…It has been demonstrated in our previous work that the surface of carbon dots complexed with BSA can effectively prevent water molecules to reduce the energy dissipation, causing the efficient emission in aqueous solutions. [ 12 ] To enlarge the particle size and enhance the FL in aqueous media, BSA was incorporated into the Pt‐CDs. Pt‐CDs and BSA complexes (Pt‐CDs@BSA) were fabricated by heating 1.5 mg of Pt‐CDs and 30 mg of BSA in 6 mL of water at 50 °C for 1 h. Excitingly, the Pt‐CDs@BSA particle size was significantly enlarged to dozens of nanometers ( Figure 3 B ).…”

Synthesis, optical properties and applications of red/near-infrared carbon dots

“…Zhang et al used the red emissive bovine serum albumin treated C-dots for in vivo tumor imaging and two-photon fluorescence imaging of blood vessels in mouse ear. 172…”

Biogenic Synthesis of Fluorescent Carbon Dots (CDs) and Their Application in Bioimaging of Agricultural Crops

“…Nanotechnology has promising applications in diagnostic biomarkers, cell labeling, contrast agents for biological imaging, microbiocidal agents, and a vehicle for drug delivery systems for the treatment of various diseases [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. There are several fluorescent nanomaterials (NMs) such as fluorescently doped silica and sol-gels [ 8 ], hydrophilic polymers (hydrogels) [ 9 , 10 ], semiconducting polymer dots [ 11 ], quantum dots, carbon dots [ 12 ], other carbonaceous nanomaterials, hydrophobic organic polymers [ 13 , 14 ], up-conversion NPs [ 15 ], various other nanomaterials like noble metal NPs (mainly gold and silver) [ 16 , 17 , 18 ], and dendrimers [ 19 ] that have been reported for their application in bioimaging [ 20 , 21 ]. Other applications of CDs include heavy metal sensing and antimicrobials [ 22 , 23 ]; antibiotic carriers; and fluorescent probes [ 24 ].…”