Green synthesis of luminescent graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots from human urine and its bioimaging application

Publication date: 1 October 2018
Source:Talanta, Volume 188
Author(s): Qianfen Zhuang, Pan Guo, Song Zheng, Qiong Lin, Yuanyi Lin, Yong Wang, Yongnian Ni
A hydrothermal synthetic approach is developed for the preparation of graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots (g-C3N4 QDs) from human urine. The reported synthetic method is green, simple, low-cost, less time-consuming, and can be used for the large-scale production of the g-C3N4 QDs. The as-prepared g-C3N4 QDs possess a high quantum yield of 15.7% by using quinine sulfate as a reference, and display excitation-wavelength dependent fluorescent emission. In addition, the g-C3N4 QDs exhibit high photostability, low cytotoxicity. and are successfully used as fluorescent probes for cell multicolor imaging. It is believed that the valuable nanomaterials, g-C3N4 QDs, which are transformed from the human bodily wastes, are promising in diverse chemical applications.

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