Fluorescent graphene oxide composites synthesis and its biocompatibility study

In this research, we developed a clean'' and wet'' route to produce sandwich-like fluorescent CdQ(2)/GO composites sheets starting from graphene oxide (GO) and Cd2+ in water/ethanol solution in one pot. The as-prepared CdQ(2)/GO composites sheets were fully characterized by IR, XRD, TEM and TGA analysis. The CdQ(2)/GO composites exhibited a strong fluorescence emission centered at 500 nm. Both the solid sample and the water dispersion could demonstrate strong green fluorescence. When incubated with Hep G2 cells at 37 degrees C, the CdQ(2)/GO composites were found to adhere to the surroundings of the cell membrane, resulting in strong green fluorescence observed by laser confocal fluorescence microscopy. MTT assay experiment results showed that this kind of composite material had low cytotoxicity at the concentration of 400 mu g mL(-1). We believe this method and composite materials will open up a brand new avenue for wider applications of graphene-based materials in the detection of other types of biomarkers, biomolecular interactions, and fluorescence imaging in vitro and in vivo.