Green synthesis of multi-functional carbon dots from medicinal plant leaves for antimicrobial, antioxidant, and bioimaging applications

Abstract In this research work, carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized from the renewable leaves of an indigenous medicinal plant by the one-pot sand bath method, Azadirachta indica . The synthesized CDs were characterized for its optical properties using UV–Vis, Fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometry and for structural properties using dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and high resolution Transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The synthesized CDs exhibited concentration dependent biocompatibility when tested in mouse fibroblast L929 cell line. The EC 50 values of biomedical studies, free radical scavenging activity (13.87 μgmL −1 ), and total antioxidant capacity (38 μgmL −1 ) proved CDs were exceptionally good. These CDs showed an appreciable zone of inhibition when examined on four bacterial (two gram-positive and gram-negative) and two fungal strains at minimum concentrations. Cellular internalisation studies performed on human breast cancer cells (MCF 7- bioimaging) revealed the applicability of CDs in bioimaging, wherein the inherent fluorescence of CDs were utilised. Thus, the CDs developed are potential as bioimaging, antioxidants and antimicrobial agents.