College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2016 Jun 1;142:123-129. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.02.037. Epub 2016 Feb 22.
Fluorescent carbon nanoparticle (FCN) is a new type of carbon-based materials. Because of its wide raw material sources, excellent optical properties and good biocompatibility, FCN is getting more and more attentions. However, its synthesis from resources at low cost under mild conditions is still a challenge. Here we report a novel and simple method derived from monosodium glutamate carbonization to make tricolor fluorescent carbon nanoparticles with an average size below 10nm, a high yield up to 35.2% based on the carbon content in the resource, a long life-time of 3.71ns, and a high fluorescence quantum yield up to 51.5% by using quinine sulfate as the standard substance. We discovered that the fluorescent stability of the FCNs was very excellent under UV irradiation for hours in aqueous solutions of pH ranged from 2.0 to 9.0. The cell viability tested under a pretty high concentration of FCNs indicated their safety for biological applications. Based on their high fluorescence quantum efficiency and the advantages mentioned above, these FCNs were then used for cell imaging and exhibited a perfect performance under 3 kinds of excitation bands (UV, blue, and green lights). Thus, they can be practically applied to immune labeling and imaging in vivo in the near future.
荧光碳纳米粒子（FCN）是一种新型碳基材料。由于其原料来源广泛、光学性能优异、生物相容性好，因此受到越来越多的关注。然而，在温和条件下从低成本资源中合成 FCN 仍然是一个挑战。在这里，我们报道了一种新颖而简单的方法，该方法源自谷氨酸钠的碳化，可制备出具有平均粒径低于 10nm、高达 35.2%基于资源中碳含量的高收率、长达 3.71ns 的长寿命和高达 51.5%的荧光量子产率的三色荧光碳纳米粒子，使用硫酸奎宁作为标准物质。我们发现，在 pH 值为 2.0 至 9.0 的水溶液中，FCN 在紫外光照射下数小时后荧光稳定性非常优异。在相当高浓度的 FCN 下测试细胞存活率表明它们可安全用于生物应用。基于其高荧光量子效率和上述优点，然后将这些 FCN 用于细胞成像，并在 3 种激发带（紫外光、蓝光和绿光）下表现出完美的性能。因此，它们可以在不久的将来实际应用于体内免疫标记和成像。
