Fluorescent carbon nanodots for targeted in vitro cancer cell imaging

•One pot large scale synthesis of GCQDs with more than 50 % conversion efficiency.•GCQDs-FA showed good water solubility, stability and biocompatibility.•GCQDs-FA showed excellent cancer cell cytoplasm and nucleus targeting in MCF-7 cells.•Dual targeting ability by GCQDs-FA as a single platform has been demonstrated.

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs or C-dots, ≤10 nm in size) are tiny carbon nanoparticles being envisaged in biosensing, bio-imaging and biomolecular/drug delivery. In the present investigation, green fluorescent carbon quantum/nano dots (GCQDs, ∼3 nm in size) were synthesized through facile chemical slicing method. Further, folic acid (FA) functionalized GCQDs (GCQDs-FA) were obtained to enhance their targeting ability. FA is known to positively influence the binding potential and penetration into the cancer cells because of high abundance of folate receptors (FR) on various cancer cell membranes. We report high biocompatibility, photoluminescence stability and excellent in vitro cancer cell cytoplasm and nucleus targeting performance of GCQDs-FA on MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Graphical abstractDiagram depicting synthesis process of green fluorescent carbon quantum/nano dots (GCQDs) and targeting approach of folic acid (FA) functionalized GCQDs (GCQDs-FA).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide