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A Novel Technique of Synthesis of Highly Fluorescent Carbon Nanoparticles from Broth Constituent and In-vivo Bioimaging of C. elegans

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Abstract

Here we have demonstrated a novel single step technique of synthesis of highly fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) from broth constituent and in vivo bioimaging of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) with the synthesized CNPs has been presented. The synthesized CNPs has been characterized by the UV-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman studies. The sp 2 cluster size of the synthesized samples has been determined from the measured Raman spectra by fitting it with the theoretical skew Lorentzian (Breit-Wigner- Fano (BWF)) line shape. The synthesised materials are showing excitation wavelength dependent tunable photoluminescence (PL) emission characteristics with a high quantum yield (QY) of 3 % at a very low concentration of CNPs. A remarkable increase in the intensity of PL emission from 16 % to 39 % in C. elegans has also been observed when the feeding concentration of CNPs to C. elegans is increased from 0.025 % to 0.1 % (w/v). The non-toxicity and water solubility of the synthesized material makes it ideal candidate for bioimaging.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to CSIR for the partial financial support with grant No. 03(1328)/14/EMR-II, dt. 03.11.2014. Authors are also grateful to Ms. Ranjana Singh, and Prof. Ranjan Singh, Dept. of Physics, Institute of Science, BHU, Varanasi, India for their help in taking the Raman spectra.

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Author notes

  1. A. K. Kole

    Present address: Department of Physics, School of Applied Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, -751024, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanoscience Laboratory, Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur, 713209, India

    A. Pramanik, A. K. Kole, S. Biswas & P. Kumbhakar

  2. National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur, 713209, India

    R. N. Krishnaraj

  3. Department of Material Science and Nano-Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    C. S. Tiwary

  4. Department of Molecular Microbiology, School of Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India

    P. Varalakshmi & S. K. Rai

  5. Department of Genetic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India

    B. A. Kumar

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  1. A. Pramanik
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Correspondence to P. Kumbhakar.

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Pramanik, A., Kole, A.K., Krishnaraj, R.N. et al. A Novel Technique of Synthesis of Highly Fluorescent Carbon Nanoparticles from Broth Constituent and In-vivo Bioimaging of C. elegans . J Fluoresc 26, 1541–1548 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-016-1854-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-016-1854-8

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