ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Chem.
Sec. Nanoscience
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2025.1627543
This article is part of the Research TopicPolymer Functional CompositeView all 4 articles
Synthesis of Carbon Dots as an Antibacterial and Antioxidant Agent
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, chongqing, China
- 2Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing, China
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In this study, a facile one-step hydrothermal method was employed to synthesize carbon dots (CDs) using Yongchuan Xiuya as the precursor. The morphology and chemical composition of the synthesized CDs were systematically characterized. The resulting doped carbon quantum dots (CDs) exhibited a spherical shape with an average particle size of 4.17 nm and a lattice spacing of 0.22 nm. The CDs demonstrated exceptional antioxidant and antibacterial properties, showing significant antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.62 mg/mL and 0.85 mg/mL, respectively. Mechanistic studies revealed that bacterial cell death likely results from strong electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged bacterial surfaces and the positively charged CDs. This work presents a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach to producing carbon dots with dual functionality as both antibacterial and antioxidant agents.
Keywords: carbon dots, Antibacterial, antioxidant, Yongchuan Xiuya, characterization
Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhong, Wang, Wu, Chang, Luo, Yang, Wu, Xu and Zhong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yingfu Zhong, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing, China
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