A cucurbit[6]uril-carbon dot system: a potentially new bioimaging agent.

Zhang, Shuai; Tian, Yan; Liu, Ming; Hong-Meng, Tie; Li, Chun Rong; Zeng, Xi; Xiao, Xin; Redshaw, Carl

Abstract

We report novel cucurbit[6]uril (Q[6])/carbon quantum dots (CQDs) prepared by solvothermal and nitrogen doped methods. The m-Q[6]-CQDs have been characterized by FTIR, XRD and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The obtained m-Q[6]-CQDs exhibit good water dispersibility, photostability and strong blue fluorescence emission. The m-Q[6]-CQDs also showed good selectivity for metal ions. When Hg2+ is present, the fluorescence is quenched, but upon the addition of Al3+, the fluorescence is enhanced. It was also shown that the fluorescence of the m-Q[6]-CQDs can resist both the interference from other metal ions as well as high ionic strength environments. The m-Q[6]-CQDs were utilized for the optical bioimaging of human prostate cancer (PC-3) cells, and were found to exhibit both low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility.

Citation

Zhang, S., Tian, Y., Liu, M., Hong-Meng, T., Li, C. R., Zeng, X., …Redshaw, C. (2022). A cucurbit[6]uril-carbon dot system: a potentially new bioimaging agent. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 6, 973-980. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2qm00022a

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 28, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 2, 2023
• Journal: Materials Chemistry Frontiers
• Print ISSN: 2052-1537
• Electronic ISSN: 2052-1537
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Pages: 973-980
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d2qm00022a
• Keywords: Materials Chemistry; General Materials Science
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3939539