Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Invasion of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Cancer Research Institute and School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
J Mater Chem B. 2021 Sep 7;9(33):6553-6575. doi: 10.1039/d1tb01077h. Epub 2021 Jul 30.
Carbon dots (CDs) are a new type of carbon nanomaterial that have unique physical and chemical properties, good biocompatibility, low toxicity, and easy surface functionalization, making them widely used in biological imaging, environmental monitoring, chemical analysis, targeted drug delivery, disease diagnosis, therapy, etc. In this review, our content is mainly divided into four parts. In the first part, we focused on the preparation methods of CDs, including arc discharge, laser ablation, electrochemical oxidation, chemical oxidation, combustion, hydrothermal/solvent thermal, microwave, template, method etc. Next, we summarized methods of CD modification, including heteroatom doping and surface functionalization. Then, we discussed the optical properties of CDs (ultraviolet absorption, photoluminescence, up-conversion fluorescence, etc.). Lastly, we reviewed the common applications of CDs in biomedicine from the aspects of in vivo and in vitro imaging, sensors, drug delivery, cancer theranostics, etc. Furthermore, we also discussed the existing problems and the future development direction of CDs.
碳点（CDs）是一种新型的碳纳米材料，具有独特的物理和化学性质、良好的生物相容性、低毒性和易于表面功能化，因此被广泛应用于生物成像、环境监测、化学分析、靶向药物输送、疾病诊断、治疗等领域。在本综述中，我们的内容主要分为四个部分。第一部分重点介绍了 CDs 的制备方法，包括电弧放电、激光烧蚀、电化学氧化、化学氧化、燃烧、水热/溶剂热、微波、模板等方法。接下来，我们总结了 CDs 的修饰方法，包括杂原子掺杂和表面功能化。然后，我们讨论了 CDs 的光学性质（紫外吸收、光致发光、上转换荧光等）。最后，我们从体内和体外成像、传感器、药物输送、癌症治疗等方面综述了 CDs 在生物医学中的常见应用。此外，我们还讨论了 CDs 存在的问题和未来的发展方向。
