Multifunctional cerium doped carbon dots nanoplatform and its applications for wound healing

Oxidative stress, which is induced by the overproduced free radicals around inflammation, is one of the most important factors to delay the wound healing process. Much efforts have been focused on wound repair with an emphasis on exploring novel biomaterials which have prominent antioxidant activity and good biocompatibility. In this work, cerium-doped carbon nanodots (Ce-CNDs) are fabricated by a simple hydrothermal method. The as-prepared Ce-CNDs have monodispersed and ultrasmall sizes ranging from 2 to 4 nm with unique photoluminescence, good photostability and certain antibacterial property. MTT assays reveal that Ce-CNDs exhibit superior biocompatibility, and the nanoscale of Ce-CNDs is very helpful for the penetration of cell membranes for cell imaging. The most remarkable point is that the coexistence of Ce(III)/Ce(IV) in Ce-CNDs endows them with attractive antioxidant property to resist the excessive inflammation and accelerate the wound healing process thereby. In consequence, this finding explores the beneficial effect of Ce-CNDs in wound healing for the first time and develops the potential applications of Ce-CNDs as visualization and treatment integrated nanoplatform in oxidative-related diseases.