title: Hydrothermal conversion of one-photon-fluorescent poly(4-vinylpyridine) into two-photon-fluorescent carbon nanodots.
abstract: A novel two-photon-fluorescent N,O-heteroatom-rich carbon nanomaterial has been synthesized and characterized. The new carbon nanoparticles were produced by hydrothermal conversion from a one-photon-fluorescent poly(4-vinylpyridine) precursor (P4VP). The carbonized particles (cP4VP dots) with nonuniform particle diameter (ranging from sub-6 to 20 nm with some aggregates up to 200 nm) exhibit strong fluorescence properties in different solvents and have also been investigated for applications in cell culture media. The cP4VP dots retain their intrinsic fluorescence in a cellular environment and exhibit an average excited-state lifetime of 2.0 ± 0.9 ns in the cell. The cP4VP dots enter HeLa cells and do not cause significant damage to outer cell membranes. They provide one-photon or two-photon fluorescent synthetic scaffolds for imaging applications and/or drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Bath , Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, U.K.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Fengjie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Rory L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Arrowsmith
authors.forename: Haobo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Geoffrey W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Foord
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Felipe-Sotelo
authors.forename: Nick D M
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mitchels
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Flower
authors.forename: Stanley W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Botchway
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolverson
authors.forename: Gazi N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Aliev
authors.forename: Tony D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Sofia I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Pascu
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marken
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D017785:Photons; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011145:Polyvinyls; C019535:poly(4-vinylpyridine); D002244:Carbon