title: Sodium hydroxide-mediated hydrogel of citrus pectin for preparation of fluorescent carbon dots for bioimaging.
abstract: The citrus process industry produces annually a huge amount of pomace, which is a rich source of citrus pectin. Here, we report the hydrogel of citrus pectin mediated by sodium hydroxide can be used to prepare fluorescent carbon dots (CDs). The introduction of hydrogel can not only make the temperature of the hydrothermal reaction down to 100 °C, but also avoid visually carbonized precipitates in the synthesis process even up to 180 °C. The as-synthesized CDs are well dispersed in water with an average size of 2.7 nm and show cyan fluorescence with high photostability, good biocompatibility. Furthermore, the CDs can act as a potential fluorescent probe for cell imaging. Citrus pectin as a non-toxic carbonaceous precursor for preparation of fluorescent CDs provides a new approach for the efficient utilization of citrus germplasm in future.
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Key Laboratory of Horticulture Science for Southern Mountainous Regions, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China. Electronic address: xijuanzh@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xi Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. Electronic address: zhangwenlin88519@126.com.
authors.forename: Wen Lin
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Key Laboratory of Horticulture Science for Southern Mountainous Regions, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China. Electronic address: zqzhou2013@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhi Qin
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002957:Citrus / Q000737:chemistry*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D010368:Pectins / Q000737:chemistry*; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; D002244:Carbon; D010368:Pectins
keywords: Carbon dots; Citrus pectin; Fluorescent; Hydrogel