The Facile Synthesis of Efficient Red‐Emissive Two‐Photon Carbon Dots for Real‐Time Cellular Imaging and High‐Resolution Deep‐Tissue Imaging

Abstract

In recent years, the development of carbon dot‐based fluorescent nanoparticles for bioimaging applications has attracted the attention of the scientific community. However, many of these systems absorb and emit in the blue–green region of the electromagnetic spectrum, limiting their application in bioimaging. Herein, the facile design and development of highly efficient two‐photon excitable red‐emissive carbon dots are reported and their high performance in bioimaging applications is demonstrated. The importance of aromatic precursors in developing red‐emissive carbon dots is demonstrated. The optimized carbon dots are highly biocompatible and nontoxic, with remarkable photostability in cells under two‐photon near‐infrared excitation. The present study points to the great potential of two‐photon excitable red‐emissive carbon dot as an efficient bioimaging agent for cellular biolabeling, long‐term and real‐time cellular imaging, and high‐resolution deep‐tissue imaging in complex biological systems.

Keywords

• carbon dots
• deep-tissue bioimaging
• real-time
• red-emissive
• synthesis
• two-photon