Practical Three-Minute Synthesis of Acid-Coated Fluorescent Carbon Dots with Tuneable Core Structure

Stephen A Hill; David Benito-Alifonso; Sean A Davis; David J Morgan; Monica Berry; M Carmen Galan

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-29674-2

Practical Three-Minute Synthesis of Acid-Coated Fluorescent Carbon Dots with Tuneable Core Structure

Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 15;8(1):12234. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-29674-2.

Authors

Stephen A Hill¹, David Benito-Alifonso¹, Sean A Davis¹, David J Morgan², Monica Berry³, M Carmen Galan⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
² Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK.
³ School of Physics, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK.
⁴ School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK. m.c.galan@bristol.ac.uk.

Abstract

We report a one-pot, three-minute synthesis of carboxylic acid-decorated fluorescent carbon dots (COOH-FCDs) with tuneable core morphology dependent on the surface passivating agent. Mechanism investigations highlighted the presence of key pyrazine and polyhydroxyl aromatic motifs, which are formed from the degradation of glucosamine in the presence of a bifunctional linker bearing acid and amine groups. The novel COOH-FCDs are selective Fe³⁺ and hemin sensors. Furthermore, the FCDs are shown to be non-toxic, fluorescent bioimaging agents for cancer cells.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding