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

• Synthesis of hydrophobic carbon dots from polymer based Paraplast
• Deep blue color under the influence of UV light
• Typical optical properties used for biological imaging
• Biological imaging of breast cancer stem cells revealing potential of carbon dots

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: 5–30 nm 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: 50 mg/ml) and could be used for bioimaging even at lower concentration (0.5 mg/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.

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