Red Emission B, N, S-co-Doped Carbon Dots for Colorimetric and Fluorescent Dual Mode Detection of Fe³⁺ Ions in Complex Biological Fluids and Living Cells

Abstract

Colorimetric and fluorescent dual mode detection methods have gained much attention in recent years; however, it is still desirable to develop new colorimetric and fluorescent dual mode nanosensors with more simple preparation procedures, low cost, and excellent biocompatibility. Herein, a colorimetric and fluorescent nanosensor based on B, N, S-co-doped carbon dots (BNS-CDs) was synthesized by one-step hydrothermal treatment of 2,5-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid and 4-aminophenylboronic acid hydrochloride. Using this nanosensor, a highly sensitive assay of Fe in the range of 0.3-546 μM with a detection limit of 90 nM was provided by quenching the red emission fluorescence. It is more attractive that Fe can also be visualized by this nanosensor via evident color changes of the solution (from red to blue) under sunlight without the aid of an ultraviolet (UV) lamp. Furthermore, the designed nanosensor can be applied for efficient detection of intracellular Fe with excellent biocompatibility and cellular imaging capability, and it holds great promise in biomedical applications.

Spatiotemporally Monitoring Cell Viability through Programmable Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Transformation by Using Fluorescent Carbon Dots

“…In Figure 2 a, the maximum absorption and emission band of the MMP‐CDs in PBS buffer solution exhibits at 525 and 546 nm (by using the excitation of 500 nm). As shown in Figure 2b, with the excitation wavelength changed from 400 to 520 nm, the emission intensity at 546 nm of the MMP‐CDs increases with no obvious shifting of maximum emission wavelength, indicating that the MMP‐CDs have excitation‐independent fluorescence behavior, which might be owing to relatively uniform surface and size distribution of MMP‐CDs 29. The photostability of MMP‐CDs is critical for its cellular applications.…”

One‐Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nitrogen‐Doped Conjugated Carbonized Polymer Dots with 31% Efficient Red Emission for In Vivo Imaging

“…So far, only a few research groups have reported red emissive CDs with relatively low photoluminescent QY, poor biocompatibility, complicated synthesis procedures, broad bandwidth, and not pure red emission, so few of them had been applied to in vivo imaging . Recently, we have reported that dopamine and o ‐phenylenediamine ( o PD) were used as precursors to prepare near‐infrared photoluminescent CDs (NIR‐CDs) with QY about 26%, but these NIR‐CDs have noncontrollable structure, poor biocompatibility and broad bandwidth emission .…”

The Role of Glutathione and Ethanol in Dictating the Emission Dynamics of Natural Resources‐Derived Highly Luminescent Carbon Nanodots

“…Their optical properties are quite similar and also dependent on the pH of the medium. Recent studies on boron and nitrogen, contents influenced luminescence properties of CNDs also support the reaction mechanism mentioned above that the presence of nitrogen content may result more contribution to π‐conjugation, thus bathochromic shift, whereas the inclusion of boron compounds in precursor may form boronate complex with adjacent hydroxyl groups and thus restricting flexibility and quenching. Moreover, X‐ray Photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) studies on CNDs indicate the presence of three types of nitrogens ‐ pyridinic (398.1 eV), pyrrolic (399.5 eV) and tertiary nitrogen (401.6 eV) .…”