Synthesis of highly fluorescent hydrophobic carbon dots by hot injection method using Paraplast as precursor

• DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2014.11.058
• Publication Date: 2014-11-26T02:35:53Z
• Authors: Abou Talib; Sunil Pandey; Mukeshchand Thakur; Hui-Fen Wu
• Keywords: Carbon fibers

We have reported synthesis of bright blue colored hydrophobic carbon dots (hC-dots) using highly pure blend of polymers called Paraplast. We developed a hot injection method for making nearly monodispersed hC-dots with a diameter in a range: 5-30nm as confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The involvement of various functional groups was confirmed by Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. These hC-dots were incubated with breast cancer stem cells in order to check the entry as well as biological imaging. The cells were analyzed using epifluorescent microscopy. hC-dots showed concentration dependent cytotoxicity (LD50: 50mg/ml) and could be used for bioimaging even at lower concentration (0.5mg/ml). hC-dots were found to be versatile agents for peeping inside the cells which could also be used for delivery of water insoluble chemotherapeutic agents to variety of solid tumors.