Long-lived dynamic room temperature phosphorescent carbon dots for advanced sensing and bioimaging applications

Room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials are vital in analytical sensing applications because they can efficiently eliminate interference from background fluorescence. Compared with traditional organic or inorganic phosphorescent materials, RTP carbon dots (CDs) not only retain the outstanding biocompatibility and low toxicity of carbon nanomaterials, but also have the advantages of adjustable luminescence wavelength, easy preparation, stable performance, and no precious metals, showing broad application prospects in information security, optoelectronic devices, sensing and bio-imaging, etc. Currently, CDs are severed as phosphorescent probes for analytical sensing are growing at an alarming rate, therefore up-to-date review articles are needed to encompass the latest advances in this booming area. In this review, we first summarized the advanced breakthroughs in activation strategies, luminescence properties, and sensing mechanisms of RTP CDs. Then, the recent applications of RTP CDs materials for analytical sensing and bioimaging are reviewed and discussed in detail. Finally, we expect to offer valuable directions for the future development of RTP CDs materials concerning the design of the materials, the exploration of the mechanism, and the modulation of the properties, so as to better serve the field of analytical sensing.