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The AuPd/UiO-66-NH2/GN composites were successfully synthesized. And they were used to modify a glassy carbon electrode to construct a novel electrochemical sensor for sensitive dopamine detection.

We report the first single AIEgen that has great potential for dual-imaging of mitochondria/LDs, detection of cell viability and simultaneously photodynamic ablation of cancer cells.

CD-based ratiometric fluorescence probes are of great significance for visual detection, but accomplishing this goal is still a particularly challenging task. Herein, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCDs) with bright yellow fluorescence were easily manufactured

Herein, a novel "turn-on" fluorescent sensor was designed based on nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) for the highly sensitive determination of morin. The N-CDs with orange fluorescent emission were prepared using neutral red and poly(ethyleneimine) as main sources

Nanozyme technology as an emerging field has been successfully applied to chemical sensing, biomedicine, and environmental monitoring. It is very significant for the advance of this field to construct nanozymes with high catalytic activity by a simple method and to develop their multifunctional applications. Here, a new type of cobalt-doped carbon dots (Co-CDs) nanozymes was designed using vitamin B

Developing carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with the solvatochromic effect and exploring multifunctional applications remains challenging. Herein, robust solvatochromic carbon quantum dots (RS-CQDs) with emission shift up to ∼62 nm from yellow to red was fabricated by the hydrothermal method. The RS-CQDs was used to detect water and Sn

Elucidating the intrinsic relationship between diseases and lipid droplet (LD) polarity remains a great challenge owing to the lack of the research on multiple disease models. Until now, the visualization of abnormal LD polarity in models of inflammation and clinical cancer patient samples has not been achieved. To meet the urgent challenge, we facilely synthesized a robust LD-specific and polarity-sensitive fluorescent probe (LD-TTP), which consists of a triphenylamine segment as an electron-donor group (D) and a pyridinium as an electron-acceptor moiety (A), forming a typical D-π-A molecular configuration. Owing to the unique intramolecular charge transfer effect, LD-TTP exhibits high sensitivity to polarity change in the linear range from Δf = 0.258 to 0.312, with over 278-fold fluorescence enhancement. Moreover, we revealed that LD-TTP possessed satisfactory ability for sensitively monitoring LD-polarity changes in living cells. Using LD-TTP, we first demonstrated the detection of LD-polarity changes in fatty liver tissues and inflammatory living mice via confocal laser scanning fluorescence imaging. Surprisingly, the visualization of LD polarity has been achieved not only at the cellular levels and living organs but also in surgical specimens from cancer patients, thus holding great potential in the clinical diagnosis of human cancer. All these features render LD-TTP an effective tool for medical diagnosis of LD polarity-related diseases.

The development of switchable adhesives for reversible bonding and debonding can overcome the problems associated with conventional adhesives in separating, recycling, and repairing glued surfaces. Here, a photoresponsive azobenzene-containing polymer (azopolymer) is developed for photocontrolled adhesion. The azopolymer P1 (poly(6-(4-(p-tolyldiazenyl)phenoxy)hexyl acrylate)) exhibits photoinduced reversible solid-to-liquid transitions due to trans–cis photoisomerization. Trans P1 is a solid that glues two substrates with a stiffness comparable to that of conventional adhesives. UV light induces trans-to-cis isomerization, liquefies P1, weakens the adhesion, and facilitates the separation of glued substrates. Conversely, visible light induces cis-to-trans isomerization, solidifies P1, and enhances the adhesion. P1 enables photocontrolled reversible adhesion for various substrates with different wettability, chemical compositions, and surface roughness. P1 can also be implemented in both dry and wet enviro...

Chemotherapy is severely limited by continuously decreased therapeutic efficacy and uncontrolled side effects on normal tissue, which can be improved by constructing a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system (DDS). Nevertheless, no studies have reported on DDS-based on carbon-nanodots (CNDs), combining subcellular organelle-targeted imaging/drug delivery, high drug loading content, and glutathione (GSH)-sensitive drug release into one system. Herein, the as-fabricated CNDs can be covalently conjugated with a mitochondria-targeting ligand (triphenylphosphine, TPP), a smart GSH-responsive disulfide linker (S-S), and the anticancer drug (camptothecin, CPT) to initially prepare a theranostic nano-DDS (TPP-CNDs-S-CPT) with the drug loading efficiency of 64.6 wt%. Owing to excellent water dispersibility, superior fluorescence properties, satisfactory cell permeability, and favorable biocompatibility, TPP-CNDs-S-CPT was successfully used for intracellular mitochondrial-targeted imaging in vitro. High intracellular GSH concentrations in tumor cells caused the cleavage of S-S, resulting in concomitant activation and release of CPT, as well as significant fluorescence enhancement. In vivo, TPP-CNDs-S-CPT exhibited lower biological toxicity and even higher tumor-activatable performance than free CPT, as well as specific cancer therapy with few side effects. The mitochondria-targeted ability and the precise drug-release in tumor make TPP-CNDs-S-CPT a hopeful chemotherapy prodrug, providing significant theoretical basis and data support for in-depth understanding and exploration of chemotherapeutic DDS-based on CNDs.

Ratiometric fluorescence sensor has high selectivity and good sensitivity; however, its development is limited by intricate design, tedious synthesis, etc. Herein, a facile and effective ratiometric fluorescence sensing platform for fluoride ion (F

In this work, we synthesized carbon nanodots (CNDs) by a one-pot hydrothermal method to carbonize precursors of dry carnation petals and polyethylenimine. The obtained CNDs possess favorable photostability, good biocompatibility, and excellent water solubility, which can serve as a dual-responsive nanosensor for the determination of vitamin B2 (VB2) and pH. A unique ratiometric fluorescence resonance energy transfer probe was developed through a strong interaction between VB2 and surface moieties of CNDs. CNDs emitted at 470 nm; however, in the presence of VB2, an enhanced emission peak was clearly observed at 532 nm. The value of I532/I470 exhibits a stable response to the VB2 concentration from 0.35 to 35.9 μM with a detection limit of 37.2 nM, which has been used for VB2 detection in food and medicine samples and ratiometric imaging of VB2 in living cells with satisfying performance. In addition, the proposed CNDs also displayed pH-sensitive behavior and can be a turn-off fluorescent sensor to monitor pH. The fluorescent intensity at 470 nm is a good linear response against pH values from 3.6 to 8, affording the capability as a single-emissive nanoprobe for intracellular pH sensing.

Herein, we report an activatable multifunctional nanocomposite (denoted as FSMP) for glutathione (GSH) sensing and synergistic theragnostics to cancer cells. This novel core–shell architecture orde...

The fluorescent sensor, especially ratiometric fluorescent sensor, is one of the most important applications for CQDs, which is becoming a research hotspot. Herein, carbon quantum dots co-doped with nitrogen, phosphorus and chlorine (NPCl-CQDs) were synthesized by acid-base neutralization reaction exothermic carbonization method. The as-fabricated NPCl-CQDs could emit blue fluorescence and possess excellent fluorescence properties. Based on the FRET, multifunctional and ratiometric fluorescent sensors for “on-off-on” sequential determination of riboflavin, Ag+, and Cys with good selectivity and high sensitivity were established. The linear range of riboflavin, Ag+, and Cys are 0.50–10.18 μM and 15.89–27.76 μM, 0.66–1.46 mM and 1.50–4.20 mM, and 0.01–0.15 μM and 0.15–0.36 μM with the limit of detection of 3.50 nM, 26.38 μM, and 0.96 nM, respectively. Furthermore, the sensors were successfully used to determine riboflavin, Ag+, and Cys in tablets, river water, and human urine with the recoveries of 95.2–104.0%, 95.6–102.0%, and 94.8–106.4%, respectively. More importantly, the as-constructed “on-off-on” NPCl-CQDs-based ratiometric fluorescent sensors were applied for detecting riboflavin, Ag+, and Cys in HeLa cells with satisfying results. The finding of this study shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the NPCl-CQDs as the available ratiometric fluorescent sensors for the determination of riboflavin, Ag+, and Cys in real samples and living cells.

Intracellular pH and hypochlorite (ClO−) concentration play an important role in life activities, so there is an urgent need to develop a valid strategy to monitor pH and ClO− in biological systems with high sensitivity and specificity. In this study, we report long-wavelength emission nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) and their potential applications in intracellular pH variation, ClO− sensing and cell imaging. The N-CDs were prepared via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method of neutral red (NR) and glutamine (Gln). N-CDs exhibited a pH-sensitive response in the range of 4.0–9.0 and a good linear relationship in the range of 5.6–7.4, which indicated that N-CDs are an ideal agent for monitoring pH fluctuations in living cells. In addition, ClO− was capable of reducing the photoluminescence of N-CDs based on static quenching. The linear range is 1.5–112.5 μM and 112.5–187.5 μM, and the LOD is 0.27 μM. Besides, the as-fabricated N-CDs have been smoothly achieved to monitor pH and ClO− in PC-12 living cells due to their great biocompatibility and lower cytotoxicity, demonstrating their promising applications in the biomedical field. Compared with other CD-based methods, the as-proposed N-CDs have a longer fluorescence emission, which makes them potentially valuable in biological systems. The results pave a way towards the construction of long-wavelength carbon-based nanomaterials for fluorescence sensing and cell imaging.

N-doped blue-fluorescence carbon dots (N-CDs) were fabricated via a one-pot hydrothermal method using folic acid and p-phenylenediamine. The obtained N-CDs exhibited strong fluorescence (FL) with a considerable quantum yield (QY) of 21.8% and exceptional optical stability under different conditions. Upon introducing Cr(vi), blue FL of N-CDs was distinctly quenched. On subsequent addition of l-AA, the FL of N-CDs could be partially recovered. The fluorescence changes of N-CDs have been utilized to detect Cr(vi) and l-AA in aqueous solutions with linear ranges of 0.10-150 μM and 0.75-2.25 mM, respectively, as well as limit of detection values of 9.4 nM and 25 μM, respectively. Furthermore, as-obtained N-CDs can be extended to monitor the fluctuation of intracellular Cr(vi) and l-AA. More intriguingly, N-CDs can target lysosomes with a satisfactory Pearson correction coefficient of 0.87, which indicates a promising application prospect in the biomedical field.

We have facilely synthesized orange emissive carbon nanodots (O-CDs) via a hydrothermal method using citric acid and 5-aminosalicylic acid. The obtained O-CDs show the excellent characteristics of excitation independence, low toxicity, fabulous photostability and superior biocompatibility. Based on these captivating properties, as-prepared O-CDs have been successfully implemented as a multi-functional sensing platform for fluorescent and colorimetric bimodal recognition of Cu2+ and pH. Upon adding Cu2+, the orange fluorescence of the O-CDs is evidently quenched with a linear range of 0 μM-300 μM, and a detection limit of 28 nM. Additionally, as the pH increases from 7.0 to 10.2, the O-CDs manifest an obvious decrease in orange fluorescence, which shows a pKa value of 8.73 and excellent linearity in the pH range of 8.0-9.2. Appealingly, the laser confocal imaging of O-CD-stained cells demonstrates that the fluctuations of Cu2+ and pH can be visualized in living cells.

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) has been considered as the most potential serological biomarker for the early stage detection of prostate cancer. Here, a label-free fluorescence aptasensing strategy for detecting PSA based on hybridization chain reaction (HCR) and G-quadruplex DNAzymes has been developed. This designed strategy consists of three DNA probes, aptamer probe (AP), hairpin probe 1 (H1) and hairpin probe 2 (H2). In the presence of target PSA, the aptamer sequences in AP specifically recognized PSA to form a PSA-aptamer complex, causing an AP conformation change and thus releasing the initiator, which triggered the chain-like assembly of H1 and H2 that yielded extended nicked double-stranded DNA through HCR. Upon the addition of hemin, the G-rich segments at the end of H1 and H2 self-assembled into the peroxidase-mimicking hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzymes, which catalyzed the hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidation of thiamine to give a fluorescence signal dependent on the concentration of PSA. Under optimal conditions, a limit of detection of 0.05 nM and a linear range from 0.1 nM to 1 nM (R2 = 0.9942) were achieved by this assay. In addition, other interfering proteins, such as IgG, AFP and CEA, did not produce any significant change in the fluorescence intensity response, indicating good selectivity of this sensor for PSA detection. Finally, this proposed aptasensor was successfully used for diluted serum samples.

A new fluorescent probe, 3-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-5-bromosalicylaldehyde-4N-phenyl thiosemicarbazone (BTT), for ratiometric sensing of Zn2+ ions in methanol/HEPES buffer solution (3 : 2, pH = 7.4) is reported in this paper. The presence of Zn2+ ions yields a significant blue shift in the maximum emission of BTT from 570 nm to 488 nm, accompanied by a clear color change from orange to green. This emission change of BTT upon binding to Zn2+ in a 1 : 1 ratio may be due to the block of excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) as well as chelation enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) on complex formation. The limit of detection (LOD) determined for Zn2+ quantitation was down to 37.7 nM. In addition, the probe BTT displays the ability to image both exogenous Zn2+ ions loaded into HeLa cells and endogenous Zn2+ distribution in living SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.

Herein, triformyl cholic acid-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (TCA-MNPs) were first constructed and developed as a novel drug carrier, possessing a uniform size of 12 ± 2 nm, superparamagnetic response, and good stability. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and epirubicin hydrochloride (EPI) could effectively aggregate on the surface of TCA-MNPs via triformyl cholic acid regulatory hydrogen-bonding interaction and the π–π stacking-induced self-assembly of drug molecules. The loading capacity of DOX and EPI reached up to 1363.6 mg g−1 and 1293.5 mg g−1, respectively. Moreover, the release of loaded drugs could be achieved by adjusting the acidic microenvironment of cancer cells. Significantly, the drug-loaded nanocomposite (TCA-MNPs/DOX) showed the functions of triformyl cholic acid-mediated hepatocyte recognition and magnetic-guided targeting for the synergistic targeted therapy of hepatoma cells in vitro and in vivo. These findings demonstrate that the as-prepared drug nanocarriers have potential practical application values for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Phenol fluorophores are a large family of fluorophores, which have attracted more and more attention in the design of probes. Using the self-assembly of aromatic boronic acid with Alizarin Red S (ARS) and Gallein (GAL), the novel chemosensors ARS-CBA and GAL-CBA were provided for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which demonstrated their ability to detect H2O2 with indicator displacement assay (IDA) by colorimetric and electrochemical measurements. After ARS-CBA and GAL-CBA reacted with H2O2, the systems displayed a red-shifted visible color change in aqueous media and off-on electrochemical signals showing generation of phenol. The chemosensor ARS-CBA also had good performance in fluorometric measurements and turn-off fluorescent response indicated removal of aromatic boronic acid. In addition, a designed near-infrared (NIR) dual-modal fluorescent probe alizarin blue S (ABS) was used for peroxynitrite (ONOO-) with a visible colorimetric change in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and "on-off" fluorescent response indicating the oxidation of hydroxyl. The flexible Phenol fluorophores are allowed to prepare multiple fluorescent probes towards H2O2 or ONOO- for environmental and physiological applications.

In this work, we designed N and S co-doped carbon dots (N,S-CDs) with long-wavelength emission and their multifunctional application in pH variation, arginine (Arg) sensing, bioimaging in living cells and zebrafish, and fluorescent materials. The N,S-CDs with excitation wavelength-dependent properties were prepared using neutral red (NR) and dl-methionine (DL-Met) as raw materials by one-pot hydrothermal strategy. The N,S-CDs exhibited a unique pH-sensitive luminescence trait within pH range of 3.2-11.0 and have great linear relationship of 4.8-8.0, which indicating their potential application as an imaging reagent in physiological environments. Arg can quench the PL of N,S-CDs due to static quenching. (SQ). The linear range is 2.5-62.5 μM and the LOD is calculated as 0.68 μM. Furthermore, the as-proposed N,S-CDs can be applied as imaging reagents for monitoring of pH and Arg in vivo and vitro owing to outstanding biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. Interestingly, the N,S-CDs were also used in fluorescent composite films and phosphors owing to exceptional optical properties. All these results indicate that the N,S-CDs have huge potentiality in the areas of fluorescence sensing, bioimaging and fluorescent materials.

Nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were synthesized hydrothermally using abundantly accessible pitaya peel and 1,2-ethylenediamine as precursors. N-CDs exhibited favorable photostability, which can serve as a multifunctional nano-sensor for detection of three tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) based on fluorescence (FL) dual-mode sensing strategy. The FL intensity of N-CDs could be rapidly quenched by tetracycline (TC) and oxytetracycline (OTC) based on bandgap transition, inner filter effect (IFE), static quenching (SQ) and electrostatic interaction. While a new finding that FL of N-CDs demonstrated a remarkable enhancement in the presence of chlortetracycline (CTC) with the same detection mechanisms as TC and OTC, also including the aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Furthermore, an easily extensible fluorescence sensor array was developed based on multiple CDs for identifying multiple TCs in real samples. Therefore, the constructed N-CDs provides a new perspective for choosing extensive natural biomass to synthesize CDs, further developing a novel sensor to realize their versatile sensing application.

Palladium@gold nanoparticle modified three-dimensional-reduced graphene oxide (3D-rGO/Pd@Au) was coupled with carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin to form a novel nanocomposite (3D-rGO/Pd@Au/CM-β-CD). The 3D-rGO/Pd@Au/CM-β-CD served as a chiral sensing interface for the electrochemical enantiorecognition of tyrosine (Tyr)