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Microwave-Assisted Green Synthesis of Carbon Quantum Dots Derived from Calotropis Gigantea as a Fluorescent Probe for Bioimaging

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Abstract

An eco-friendly, cost-effective, and convenient approach for synthesizing biocompatible fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from the leaf extract of the medicinal plant Calotropis gigantea, commonly known as crown flower, has been demonstrated in this work. Fluorescence quantum yields of up to 4.24 percent were observed in as-synthesized CQDs. The size distribution of the as-synthesized CQDs varied from 2.7 to 10.4 nm, with a significant proportion of sp2 and sp3 carbon groups verified by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The zeta potential of as-synthesized CQDs was measured to be –13.8 mV, indicating the existence of a negatively charged surface with incipient instability in aqueous suspension. Furthermore, as an alternative to organic or synthetic dyes, the development of simple, inexpensive, and non-destructive fluorescence-based staining agents are highly desired. In this regard, as-synthesized CQDs have shown remarkable fluorescent staining capabilities in this work and might be utilised as a suitable probe for optical and bio-imaging of bacteria, fungi, and plant cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, Ambala, 133207, Haryana, India

    Neetu Sharma & Milan Kumar Bera

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, Ambala, 133207, Haryana, India

    Indu Sharma

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  1. Neetu Sharma
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  2. Indu Sharma
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  3. Milan Kumar Bera
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Dr. M. K. Bera contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Mrs. N. Sharma and Dr. I. Sharma. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Milan Kumar Bera.

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Sharma, N., Sharma, I. & Bera, M.K. Microwave-Assisted Green Synthesis of Carbon Quantum Dots Derived from Calotropis Gigantea as a Fluorescent Probe for Bioimaging. J Fluoresc 32, 1039–1049 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-022-02923-4

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