The first use of an organosilane as a coordinating solvent to synthesize highly luminescent (quantum yield = 47%) amorphous carbon dots (CDs) in one minute is reported. The CDs, which benefit from surface methoxysilyl groups, have a diameter of ~0.9 nm and can easily be fabricated into pure CD fluorescent films or monoliths simply by heating them at 80 ºC for 24 h. Moreover, the non‐water‐stable CDs can be further transformed into water‐soluble CDs/silica particles, which are biocompatible with and nontoxic to the selected cell lines in our preliminary evaluation. The proposed novel synthetic route is believed to provide an alternative synthesis route and should inspire more research into the origin and applications of CDs, as well as delivering CD‐based materials.

Graphene, a 2-dimensional carbon nanomaterial, has attracted wide attention in biomedical applications, owing to its intrinsic physical and chemical properties. In this work, a photosensitizer molecule, 2-(1-hexyloxyethyl)-2-devinyl pyropheophorbide-alpha (HPPH or Photochlor®), is loaded onto polyethylene glycol (PEG)-functionalized graphene oxide (GO) via supramolecular π-π stacking. The obtained GO-PEG-HPPH complex shows high HPPH loading efficiency. The in vivo distribution and delivery were tracked by fluorescence imaging as well as positron emission tomography (PET) after radiolabeling of HPPH with 64Cu. Compared with free HPPH, GO-PEG-HPPH offers dramatically improved photodynamic cancer cell killing efficacy due to the increased tumor delivery of HPPH. Our study identifies a role for graphene as a carrier of PDT agents to improve PDT efficacy and increase long-term survival following treatment.

This paper describes a rapid diagnostic platform for pathogen detection based on the acetylcholinesterase-catalyzed hydrolysis reaction. Owing to the signal amplification strategies, the sensitivity of this assay is comparable to that of PCR. In addition, the readout of this assay is based on the color change of solutions, which can be easily observed by the naked eye alone.