Facile synthesis of efficient red-emissive carbon quantum dots as a multifunctional platform for biosensing and bioimaging

The red-emissive carbon quantum dots (r-CQDs) have gained considerable interest in the field of fluorescence imaging as they can effectively overcome short-wave background interference. However, the development of efficient and simple synthetic pathways for the preparation of r-CQDs with high production yield and fluorescence quantum yield remains a great challenge. Herein, we prepared the intense red-emissive carbon quantum dots (r-CQDs) through one-pot hydrothermal treatment of methylene violet. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared r-CQDs were characterized through transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. r-CQDs were well dispersed in water with an average size of 2.39 nm. The surface of r-CQDs was full of oxygen-containing functional groups, which contributed to their high solubility in water. Under ultraviolet light (365 nm) irradiation, both the aqueous solution and powder of r-CQDs emitted intense red luminescence. r-CQDs exhibited the excitation-independent emission property with the maximum fluorescence peak at 596 nm. The fluorescence quantum yield of r-CQDs was calculated to be 26.46% in water using rhodamine B as a reference. Due to the significantly different fluorescence intensity in water and organic solvents, r-CQDs could be applied as the fluorescence sensor to quickly detect the trace amounts of water in various organic solvents. Moreover, the fluorescence of r-CQDs showed selective response to hypochlorite (ClO−) through an “on-off” sensing mechanism. The good biocompatibility of r-CQDs was verified by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method against mouse hepatocellular carcinoma (Hepa 1–6) cells. Finally, the r-CQDs were successfully used in cellular imaging and they were mainly located in the lysosomes of cancel cells. Thus, r-CQDs could be served as a powerful fluorescence nano-platform for biosensing and bioimaging.