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Highly biocompatible graphene quantum dots: green synthesis, toxicity comparison and fluorescence imaging

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Abstract

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have tremendous potential in biological imaging due to their bright visible photoluminescence mission. However, the tedious preparation procedures and potential toxicity of GQDs greatly limit their application in biological field. Here, highly biocompatible GQDs (HGQDs) have been successfully prepared only by glucose in aqueous solution. Compared with GQDs prepared from conventional methods (CGQDs), the cytotoxicity of HGQDs reduced by more than 60%, and the flow cytometric analysis of the normal cells treated with HGQDs showed that the early and late apoptotic rate reduced by more than 72% and 40%, respectively. In vitro fluorescence imaging showed that both cells and bacteria could be imaged by HGQDs, and the morphology of cells and bacteria could be kept to a maximum extent. A long-term in vivo study revealed that no obvious organ (heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney) damage or lesions were observed, and the blood–brain barrier (BBB) could be overcome, which provides the possibility for treatment and diagnosis of brain-related diseases. With adequate studies of biocompatibility, both in vitro and in vivo, HGQDs may be considered for further biological application.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51433008, 81572252 and 31771087), Shanxi National Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018JM2031) and the Graduate Starting Seed Fund of Northwestern Polytechnical University (Grant No. ZZ2019234). We thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Northwestern Polytechnical University for equipment supporting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Chaoren Yan, Xiaoling Hu, Ping Guan, Tongtong Hou, Dewei Wan & Xinli Zhang

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, People’s Republic of China

    Peng Chen & Chaoli Wang

  3. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Changlexilu 169, Xi’an, China

    Jian Wang

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  1. Chaoren Yan
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  2. Xiaoling Hu
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  4. Tongtong Hou
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  5. Peng Chen
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Correspondence to Xiaoling Hu, Jian Wang or Chaoli Wang.

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Yan, C., Hu, X., Guan, P. et al. Highly biocompatible graphene quantum dots: green synthesis, toxicity comparison and fluorescence imaging. J Mater Sci 55, 1198–1215 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-04079-2

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