Recent advancement in graphene quantum dots based fluorescent sensor: Design, construction and bio-medical applications

Excellent optical properties, high specific surface area, large π-conjugated system and modifiable edge groups make graphene quantum dots (GQDs) a star material for building biomedical fluorescent sensors. Compared with small molecule fluorescent probes, GQDs based fluorescent sensors exhibit good stability, water solubility and chemical inertness. They can also be loaded with drugs or other materials for integrated visualization and treatment. Despite the large number of GQDs based fluorescent sensors that have been developed, however, this interesting and cutting-edge topic has rarely been systematically reviewed in recent years. Therefore, it is of great significance to summarize how to develop GQDs based fluorescent sensors for biomedical applications. In this review, we will focus on the recent advances in design strategies, synthetic methods, and biological and medical applications of GQDs based fluorescent sensors. This review contributes to the application of GQDs in future biomedical assays and may facilitate the development of more powerful GQDs based fluorescent sensors.