Fluorine-Doped Carbon Dots with Intrinsic Nucleus-Targeting Ability for Drug and Dye Delivery

A new type of fluorine-doped carbon dots (FCDs) with the nucleus-targeting capability was prepared and utilized as a promising candidate for drug and dye delivery. Doxorubicin (DOX) and boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was used as a model drug and dye, respectively, to construct FCD-DOX and FCD-BODIPY nanocomposites via coassembly with FCDs. The results demonstrate that FCDs can remarkably increase the cellular uptake and delivery of DOX and BODIPY. This work developed a convenient strategy to construct CDs-based nanohybrids for nucleus-targeted bioimaging and cancer treatment.