Norepinephrine derived carbon dots for live-cell imaging and effective hemoglobin determination

Recently, carbon dots (CDs) have attracted wide attention for their potential use as fluorescence probes in biological and analytical chemistry due to their great stability and high fluorescence quantum yields. In our work, norepinephrine (NE)-derived CDs with green luminescence and an average size of 10 nm were fabricated using a one-step hydrothermal route. As-prepared CDs show a strong emission at a wavelength of 520 nm when excited at 420 nm, and demonstrate pH and concentration dependent fluorescence behaviour. Multiple functional groups on the CDs allow their protonation/deprotonation and thus alter fluorescence intensity and peak position in different pH conditions. Prepared CDs show significant potential to be used as a live-cell imaging agent with long-term photostability. Furthermore, a simple but effective method to determine the concentration of hemoglobin (Hb) in diluted human blood samples was also developed based on the inner filter effect (IFE). The method demonstrates good linearity from 0.01-10 mu M, with a limit of determination (LOD) of 52 nM.

Automated summary

The study fabricated NE-derived CDs with green luminescence, showing pH and concentration dependent fluorescence behavior. The multiple functional groups on the CDs allow them to alter fluorescence intensity and peak position in different pH conditions, demonstrating significant potential for live-cell imaging and blood sample detection. Additionally, a simple and effective method based on the inner filter effect was developed to determine the concentration of hemoglobin in diluted human blood samples, showing good linearity and a low limit of determination.