화학공학소재연구정보센터
홈 로그인 로그아웃 연락처 사이트맵
Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol.66, 387-395, October, 2018
DOI10.1016/j.jiec.2018.06.005  Export Citation
Water-soluble, lignin-derived carbon dots with high fluorescent emissions and their applications in bioimaging
Aye Aye Myint1, 2, Won-Kyu Rhim3, Jwa-Min Nam3, Jaehoon Kim2, †, and Youn-Woo Lee1, †
  • 1School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering and Institute of Chemical Processes (ICP), Seoul National University, Seoul 151–744, Republic of Korea
  • 2School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, and SKKU Advanced Institute of Nano Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066, Seobu-Ro, Jangan-Gu, Suwon, Gyeong Gi-Do 16419, Republic of Korea
  • 3Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 151–747, Republic of Korea
E-mail:,
We report the synthesis of water-soluble and environmentally friendly fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) using the renewable resource lignin as a precursor, which is a waste emitted from pulp and paper industries and lignocellulosic biofuel production, using a compressed liquid CO2 antisolvent method followed by carbonization and chemical oxidation with an acid mixture (H2SO4:HNO3 = 1:3, v/v) at 90 C for 8, 16, and 24 h. The as-synthesized CDs emitted bright yellow fluorescence (FL) under argon laser excitation at 458 nm with excitation-wavelength-independent and excitation-wavelength-dependent FL emission characteristics. Moreover, the CDs exhibited excellent stability in a highly concentrated NaCl solution, photostability with pH-dependent FL emission activities, and cellular imaging capability with very low cytotoxicity. Notably, the FL emission intensities of the as-synthesized CDs increased with longer reaction times, indicating high degree of oxidation on the CD surface and consequently, high quantum yield of 13% was achieved. Therefore, the as-synthesized CDs can be used as promising fluorescent probes for bioimaging applications in vitro and in vivo.
Keywords:Lignin;Carbon dots;Tunable fluorescence properties;High photostability;Bioimaging
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