Quick synthesis of 2-propanol derived fluorescent carbon dots for bioimaging applications

Publication date: April 2018
Source:Optical Materials, Volume 78
Author(s): Raja Angamuthu, Priya Palanisamy, Vasanthakumar Vasudevan, Sedhu Nagarajan, Ramesh Rajendran, Raj Vairamuthu
Herein, for the first time, we present a one-pot ingenious preparative method for fluorescent carbon dots from 2-propanol (2P-CDs) without external treatments. Structure, morphology, chemical composition and fluorescence properties of the 2P-CDs were examined. These results confirm that the as-synthesized 2P-CDs are amorphous, monodispersed, spherical and the average particle size is 2.5 ± 0.7 nm. Most importantly, excitation-dependent emission properties were observed, which suggest that these 2P-CDs may be used in multicolor bioimaging applications. When incubated with HeLa cells, the 2P-CDs exhibit low cytotoxicity, and positive biocompatibility. Confocal microscopy image shows the uptake of 2P-CDs by HeLa cells and the application of probable biomarker is demonstrated.

Graphical abstract

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