Ultra-bright carbon quantum dots for rapid cell staining

Cellular imaging using carbon dots is an important research method in several fields. Herein, green-emissive carbon quantum dots (G-CDs) with a pretty high absolute quantum yield (QY) were fabricated via a one-step solvothermal method by using m-phenylenediamine and concentrated hydrochloric acid. G-CDs displayed strong green fluorescence with excitation/emission peaks at 460/500 nm, and their absolute quantum yield was as high as 58.65%. Further experiments suggested that the G-CDs we prepared have good solubility, excellent biocompatibility, and the capacity of rapidly imaging HeLa and 4T1 cells. Over expectations, the G-CDs could penetrate cells in only 10 s and the confocal images showed that the G-CDs could target the nucleus of cells. Moreover, by using 920 nm as the excitation wavelength, two-photon imaging has been successfully applied to 4T1 cells, overcoming the inherent limitations of single-photon imaging. The extremely high absolute quantum efficiency, ultra-fast imaging speed, and two-photon imaging capability make the G-CDs have good application potential in biomedical analysis and the clinical diagnostic field.