We show for the first time that stable fluorescent vesicles can be constructed by mixing oppositely-charged carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and simple surfactants in water, and can be potentially used as a new generation of biomarkers and drug delivery vehicles.

Amphiphilic derivatives of fullerene C60 are attractive from viewpoints of supramolecular chemistry and biomedicine. The establishment of relationships among the molecular structure, aggregation behavior and properties such as scavenging radicals of the amphiphilic C60 derivatives is the key to push these carbon nanomaterials to real applications. In this work, six monosubstituted C60 derivatives were synthesized by a one-step quaternization of their neutral precursors, which bear Percec monodendrons terminated with oligo­(poly­(ethylene oxide)) (o-PEO) chain(s). The main difference among the C60 derivatives lies in the number and substituted position of the o-PEO chain(s) within the Percec monodendron. Derivative with a 4-substitution of the o-PEO chain still showed limited solubility in water. Other derivatives possessing two or three o-PEO chains exhibited much improved solubilities and rich aggregation behavior in water. It was found that the formation of aggregates is regulated both by the number and the substituted pattern of the o-PEO chains. Typical morphologies include nanosheets, nanowires, vesicles, nanotubes, and nanorods. Although the structures of the C60 derivatives are different from those of traditional surfactants, their aggregation behavior can be also well explained by applying the theory of critical packing parameter. Interestingly, the capabilities of the C60 derivatives to scavenge the hydroxyl radicals (OH· –) followed the same order of their solubility in water, where the compound bearing three o-PEO chains with a 2,3,4-substitution got the champion quenching efficiency of ∼97.79% at a concentration of 0.15 mg·mL–1 (∼0.11 mmol·L–1).