ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mol. Biosci.

Sec. Cellular Biochemistry

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1555995

This article is part of the Research TopicProgress in the Application of Biomaterials and Nanotechnology in Cell BiologyView all 5 articles

Fluorescent carbon dots in PEC-GS/BG hybrids and their application for bioimaging

Provisionally accepted
Xibing Zhang（张西兵）Xibing Zhang（张西兵）1JUN GONGJUN GONG1Hai ZhouHai Zhou1Xun YinXun Yin1Guanda WuGuanda Wu2Qixiang WangQixiang Wang1Weipeng LinWeipeng Lin1Huaguo WangHuaguo Wang1Wei JiWei Ji2*Zhongmin ZhangZhongmin Zhang2*
  • 1Yunfu People's Hospital, Yunfu, China
  • 2Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

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Carbon dots (CDs), renowned for their distinctive photoluminescence properties, have emerged as a prominent material in the field of luminescence. They are extensively utilized in bioimaging, drug delivery, theranostics, and other applications. In this study, CDs were successfully prepared and isolated from PEC-GS/BG hybrids. Their chemical composition, surface functional groups, and crystal structure were comprehensively characterized. The results demonstrated that the CDs are mainly composed of carbon and oxygen. They exhibit a near-spherical morphology with an average diameter of about 7.4 nm. Then, the fluorescent properties of the CDs were thoroughly assessed. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed that the CDs display intense blue fluorescence upon exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. This emission is excitation-dependent and shows resilience to variations in pH, high ionic strength, and photobleaching. The quantum yield (QY) was determined to be around 4.5%. Additionally, the synthesized CDs exhibited excellent biocompatibility and cell-labeling capability. These findings indicate that the synthesized CDs hold significant potential for practical applications in various fields.

Keywords: bioimaging, Bioactive glass, carbon dots, Citric Acid, Photoluminescence

Received: 06 Jan 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zhang（张西兵）, GONG, Zhou, Yin, Wu, Wang, Lin, Wang, Ji and Zhang. 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:
Wei Ji, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong Province, China
Zhongmin Zhang, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong Province, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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