Optics and Nanoscopy Group, Institute of Physics, Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), 57072-970, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil.
Cell Biology Laboratory, Institute of Health and Biological Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Av. Lourival Melo Mota S/n, 57072-970, Maceio, Brazil.
Nanotechnology. 2022 Mar 17;33(23). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac56f2.
In this research, we have synthesized carbon dots (CDs) co-doped with nitrogen and sulfur by facile hydrothermal method, using citric acid and cysteine as carbon source. The effect of solid-state thermic treatment (STT) at 303-453 K on the size, surface, fluorescence and cellular cytotoxicity of the CDs were systematically investigated. Through a simple STT, it was possible to tune surface states and the average size of the CDs, causing a permanent red shift. Initially, CDs showed a decrease in cell viability with increasing concentration. However, after STT, its viability remained constant with an increase in concentration. Here, we show the possibility to label the cells cytoplasm according to the CDs fluorescence emission before (blue emission) and after STT (red emission). The CDs studied in this paper show selective luminescence properties, which are fundamental for any cell imaging application.
在这项研究中，我们使用柠檬酸和半胱氨酸作为碳源，通过简便的水热法合成了氮硫共掺杂的碳点（CDs）。系统研究了在 303-453 K 下进行固态热处理（STT）对 CDs 的尺寸、表面、荧光和细胞毒性的影响。通过简单的 STT，可以调节 CDs 的表面状态和平均尺寸，导致永久性的红移。最初，CDs 的细胞活力随着浓度的增加而降低。然而，经过 STT 后，其活力随着浓度的增加而保持不变。在这里，我们展示了根据 CDs 荧光发射（蓝色发射）和 STT 后（红色发射）的荧光对细胞细胞质进行标记的可能性。本文研究的 CDs 表现出选择性发光特性，这对任何细胞成像应用都是至关重要的。
