title: Eco-friendly synthesis of shrimp egg-derived carbon dots for fluorescent bioimaging.
abstract: Developing synthetic methods to produce carbon dots (CDs) using natural biomass or other readily available carbon sources are currently being explored. We describe a simple and green synthetic method for preparing fluorescent CDs by water extraction from heat-treated shrimp eggs (SE-CDs). The SE-CDs appeared spherical with an average size of 3.25 ± 1.06 nm. Elemental analysis indicate that the SE-CDs have functional groups such as C-OH, C-O-C, CO, and C-H on the surface which give rise to a series of emissive traps between π-π* states. SE-CDs also showed a broad emission range with excellent quantum yield of 18.5 ± 2.6%. In addition, when compared with commonly used traditional CdSe and CdTe nanocrystals, SE-CDs were bio-tolerable to cell at high doses (200 μgml(-1)) in MTT assay. Thus, SE-CDs are very promising alternatives to semiconductor-based quantum dots for in vitro and in vivo bioimaging applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Ying
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chiung-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan; Center of Neurobiology Science, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mei-Lang
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ling-Ya
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Huei-Jhen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Fragrance and Cosmetic Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Ting
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung 81267, Taiwan; Center for Stem Cell Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Deng-Chyang
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; Center for Stem Cell Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Cijin Hospital, Kaohsiung 80541, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chao-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Seafood Science, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan; Center for Stem Cell Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. Electronic address: shsieh@facmail.nsysu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shuchen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon
keywords: AFM; Biocompatible; Bioimaging; Biomass; Carbon dot