Carbon Dots with Red Emission for Sensing of Pt²⁺, Au³⁺, and Pd²⁺ and Their Bioapplications in Vitro and in Vivo

Abstract

Red emissive carbon dots (CDs) have drawn more and more attention due to their good organ penetration depth and slight biological tissue photodamage. Herein, the fluorescent CDs with red emission were synthesized by the facile one-pot hydrothermal treatment of citric acid and neutral red and they show red fluorescence both in aqueous solution and solid state. The solution of CDs exhibits the quantum yield of 12.1%, good stability against photobleaching, and low cytotoxicity. As-prepared CDs can be used as a fluorescent probe for peculiar detection of Pt²⁺, Au³⁺, and Pd²⁺. Furthermore, the CDs show excellent biocompatibility, which were successfully used as hopeful bioimaging and biosensing of noble metal ions in PC12 cells and zebrafish.