Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran. Electronic address: [Email]
Folic acid functionalized carbon quantum dot (FA-CQD) with ultrahigh quantum yield (50%) were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal route using citric acid. The synthesized CQDs were characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction. The cell viability of about 95% and 97% were obtained for MTT assay of the CQDs and FA-CQDs toward MCF-7 cells after 24 h of incubation respectively. The FA-CQDs were successfully applied for targeted imaging of cervical cancer (type HeLa) and human breast adenocarcinoma (type MCF7) cells using fluorescence microscope.
