Manganese-Doped Carbon Dots with Redshifted Orange Emission for Enhanced Fluorescence and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• Published in: ACS applied bio materials Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 1969 - 1975
• Main Authors: Sun, Sijia, Zhao, Lining, Wu, Di, Zhang, Hongxin, Lian, Haichen, Zhao, Xiaolong, Wu, Aiguo, Zeng, Leyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 15.02.2021
• Subjects: Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Carbon - chemistry; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Manganese - chemistry; Materials Testing; Molecular Structure; Particle Size; Quantum Dots - chemistry; Surface Properties; manganese-doped carbon dots; magnetic resonance imaging; orange emission; one-step solvothermal method; fluorescence imaging
• ISSN: 2576-6422; 2576-6422
• DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c01597

Metal-doped carbon dots (CDs) exhibited promising application in fluorescence and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, but developing manganese-doped CDs (Mn-CDs) with long wavelength emission and enhanced MR performance is a challenge. Herein, using a one-step solvothermal method, Mn-CDs with redshifted orange emission and enhanced longitudinal relaxation were synthesized for fluorescence and MR imaging. The results indicated that the prepared Mn-CDs had a uniform size distribution, and the average size was 5 nm. Moreover, Mn-CDs possessed a stronger fluorescence performance than Mn-free CDs, and simultaneously, the emission wavelength can redshift from 542 nm (green emission) to 578 nm (orange emission), owing to the increasing N-doping. Because of the movement limit of Mn2+, Mn-CDs exhibited high T1-weighted MR imaging performance with a longitudinal relaxation rate of 12.69 mM–1·s–1. The in vivo experiments demonstrated their excellent fluorescence and MR imaging with safety and reliability. Therefore, the prepared Mn-CDs with orange emission can be an excellent candidate as a dual-modal nanoprobe for fluorescence and MR imaging.