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Highly N,P-doped carbon dots: Rational design, photoluminescence and cellular imaging

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Abstract

The authors describe the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) that are highly doped with both nitrogen and phosphorus. Synthesis is accomplished via a hydrothermal reaction starting from diethylenetriaminepenta(methylenephosphonic acid) and m-phenylenediamine as the precursors. The high N,P-doping ratios renders the codoped CDs excellently water soluble, photostable over a wide range of pH values, and photostable in the presence of various metal ions. Ferric ions acts as a strong quencher of fluorescence. Their low cytotoxicity and strong green fluorescence (with excitation/emission peaks at 440/510 nm and a quantum yield of 0.32) make the CDs well suited for purposes of cell imaging, and this is demonstrated by fluorescent bioimaging of human lung carcinoma cells (type A549) and human breast cancer cells (type KB). Furthermore, the CDs were used as an effective probe for monitoring Fe(III) in both aqueous solution and living cells.

A highly N,P-codoped carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized for high-quality cellular Imaging and monitoring Fe3+ in living cells. This water soluble CDs displayed high biocompatibility and emitted strong green fluorescence.

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Acknowledgements

Financial supports by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant number 51573078) are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

    Junjian Li, Ying Zhong, Gancheng Zuo, Aming Xie & Wei Dong

  2. Department of Scientific Research, Nanjing Huawei Medicine Technology Development co., LTD, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Yingzhi Jiao

  3. State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Liandong Feng

Authors
  1. Junjian Li
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  2. Yingzhi Jiao
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  3. Liandong Feng
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  4. Ying Zhong
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  5. Gancheng Zuo
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  6. Aming Xie
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  7. Wei Dong
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Correspondence to Liandong Feng or Wei Dong.

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Li, J., Jiao, Y., Feng, L. et al. Highly N,P-doped carbon dots: Rational design, photoluminescence and cellular imaging. Microchim Acta 184, 2933–2940 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2314-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2314-0

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