One-step microwave-assisted polyol synthesis of green luminescent carbon dots as optical nanoprobes

A one-step microwave-assisted polyol method was developed to fabricate green luminescent carbon dots (CDs). By using sucrose as the carbon source and diethylene glycol (DEG) as the reaction medium, the CDs were obtained within one minute under microwave irradiation. The as-prepared DEG stabilized CDs (DEG-CDs) had an average diameter about 5 nm and could be readily dispersed in water with transparent appearance in day light while emitted unique green luminescence upon a 360 nm excitation. Moreover, these green luminescent DEG-CDs could be efficiently uptaken by C6 glioma cells and exhibited a low cytotoxicity, suggesting their potentials in bio-imaging applications.