Water-soluble green-emitting carbon nanodots with enhanced thermal stability for biological applications

High stability and water solubility of fluorescent nanomaterials are considered key factors to evaluate their feasibility for fundamental applications. Herein, water-soluble and thermally stable, green-emitting carbon nanodots (CNDs) have been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method with an average size of 1.9 nm. CNDs showed green emission centered at 544 nm with the photo-luminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of up to 10.1% under the excitation of 400 nm. The obtained CNDs demonstrated high resistance towards photo-bleaching and an ionic (KCl) environment. Moreover, the aqueous solution of CNDs exhibited excellent stability under harsh thermal conditions from 10 degrees C to 80 degrees C. The as-prepared CNDs showed stable performance at high temperatures, even after keeping them at 80 degrees C for 30 min. Furthermore, the green emissive CNDs were incubated in T-ca cancer cells for bio-imaging applications. The results indicated that CNDs can served as an effective thermally-stable bio-imaging agent in T-ca cells at the physiological temperature range of 25 degrees C-45 degrees C. Green emission and excellent thermal stability make these CNDs promising fluorescent materials for potential applications in the medical field, which requires long-wavelength fluorescence and high-temperature imaging.

Automated summary

This study synthesized water-soluble and thermally stable green-emitting carbon nanodots (CNDs) with high resistance towards photo-bleaching and an ionic environment. The CNDs showed promising potential for medical applications as bio-imaging agents in T-CA cancer cells, demonstrating stable performance at high temperatures.