Ruthenium nitrosyl grafted carbon dots as a fluorescence-trackable nanoplatform for visible light-controlled nitric oxide release and targeted intracellular delivery

A fluorescence self-trackable NO-delivery nanoplatform, in which ruthenium nitrosyl and folic acid were covalently grafted onto the surface of carbon dots, was selectively taken up by specific cancer cells to which localized NO was produced on demand by controlled visible light illumination.