Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 11, Issue 36, Pages 32647-32658Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b09590
Keywords
carbon quantum dots; polarity-responsive; cell imaging super-resolution imaging; nuclear targeting
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21673037]
- Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province [ICYCX18_0159]
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Red-emitting carbon dots (CDs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their wide applications in areas including imaging, sensing, drug delivery, and cancer therapy. However, it is still highly challenging for red-emitting CDs to simultaneously achieve high quantum yields (QYs), nucleus targeting, and super-resolution fluorescence imaging (especially the stimulated emission depletion (STED) imaging). Here, it is found that the addition of varied metal ions during the hydrothermal treatment of p-phenylenediamine (pPDA) leads to the formation of fluorescent CDs with emission wavelengths up to 700 nm. Strikingly, although metal ions play a crucial role in the synthesis of CDs with varied QYs, they are absent in the formed CDs, that is, the obtained CDs are metal-free, and the metal ions play a role similar to a catalyst during the CD formation. Besides, using pPDA and nickel ions (Ni2+) as raw materials, we prepare Ni-pPCDs which have the highest QY and exhibit various excellent fluorescence properties including excitation-independent emission (at similar to 605 nm), good photostability, polarity sensitivity, and ribonucleic acid responsiveness. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that Ni-pPCDs are highly biocompatible and can realize real-time, wash-free, and high-resolution imaging of cell nuclei and high-contrast imaging of tumor-bearing mice and zebrafish. In summary, the present work may hold great promise in the synthesis and applications of red emissive CDs.
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