title: Synthesis of highly photoluminescent carbon dots via citric acid and Tris for iron(III) ions sensors and bioimaging.
abstract: In this work, high quantum yield and strong photoluminescent carbon quantum dots (C-QDs) are successfully synthesized via a facile and green hydrothermal method using citric acid and Tris as precursors. The as-synthesized C-QDs with a quantum yield (QY) as high as 52% were characterized by UV, FT-IR, TEM, XPS and fluorescence spectroscope. TEM results show that C-QDs are mono-dispersed spherical particles and the diameter distribution of C-QDs is 2.8±1.1 nm. The extraordinary photoluminescent properties and low cytotoxicity of C-QDs were obtained through optical property characterization and cytotoxicity assay. In addition, we found that the as-prepared C-QDs had a high affinity for Fe(3+) ions and the response toward Fe(3+) ions was highly linear (R(2)=0.997) over the concentration range from 2 to 50 μM, which could provide an effective platform for portable detection of Fe(3+) ions. Also, it is demonstrated that the photoluminescent C-QDs display hypotoxicity and are biocompatible for use as biosensors in living cells.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Center for Photon Manufacturing Science and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China. Electronic address: zhouming@tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhulong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Center for Photon Manufacturing Science and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002470:Cell Survival; D019343:Citric Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014325:Tromethamine / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D014325:Tromethamine; D019343:Citric Acid; D002244:Carbon; D007501:Iron
keywords: Bioimaging; Carbon quantum dots; Fe(3+) ions detection; High quantum yield; Hydrothermal