Abstract:
Carbon nanodots are well known in biomedical aspects due to their novel fluorescent
properties. Nitrogen based carbon nanodots has showed the great photoluminescence and
increased fluorescence quantum yield. The pH in living cells is very important as a lot of
physiological systems are working in our body to keep them within a specific range. A
slight change in pH can cause imbalance in cell function and growth. There are many
diseases, which are associated with pH change (acidic pH) such as cancer, tuberculosis,
and infections. Hence, a sensitive and selective system is needed to monitor the pH in living
cells. The composition of carbon nanodots with Polypropylene glycol and 1,4-
benzenediamine showed better chemical stability, high biocompatibility, intense
photoluminescence. Therefore, they can be used to evaluate pH detection in living cells.
The purpose of this study is to produce nitrogen-based carbon nanodots that are susceptible
to show photoluminescence properties and high quantum yield. NCDs were synthesized
via Microwave assisted method which is a very facile and cost-effective technique. The
synthesized carbon nanodots were then characterized by using FT-IR, AFM, UV-Vis and
Fluorescence spectroscopy. FT-IR spectra confirmed the presence of carboxyl functional
groups on the surface of carbon nanodots. AFM results indicates that the produced carbon
nanodots are spherical and have diameter in the range of 1-5 nm. All these experiments
confirm that synthesized carbon nanodots possess high photoluminescence, better quantum
yield henceforward they can be used for pH detection and other biomedical applications.
