Efficient Red/Near-Infrared-Emissive Carbon Nanodots with Multiphoton Excited Upconversion Fluorescence

Red/near-infrared (NIR) emissive carbon nanodots (CNDs) with photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) of 57% are prepared via an in situ solvent-free carbonization strategy for the first time. 1-Photon and 2-photon cellular imaging is demonstrated by using the CNDs as red/NIR fluorescence agent due to the high PL QY and low biotoxicity. Further study shows that the red/NIR CNDs exhibit multiphoton excited (MPE) upconversion fluorescence under excitation of 800-2000 nm, which involves three NIR windows (NIR-I, 650-950 nm; NIR-II, 1100-1350; NIR-III, 1600-1870 nm). 2-Photon, 3-photon, and 4-photon excited fluorescence of the CNDs under excitation of different wavelengths is achieved. This study develops an in situ solvent-free carbonization method for efficient red/NIR emissive CNDs with MPE upconversion fluorescence, which may push forward the application of the CNDs in bioimaging.