Abstract
Since their unexpected discovery in 2004, carbon dots (CDs) have entered the scene as a modern class of nanomaterials. At present, the forefront of research aims to address the current optical limitations of CDs, namely, red photoluminescence (PL) between 650-950 nm (near infrared, NIR-I window). This dissertation contains an in-depth approach to synthesize, fully characterize, and provide novel applications of water soluble red emissive CDs. First, a detailed analysis of the structure of CDs was conducted to elucidate the structural components of CDs prepared from various methods. Next, a CD was selected as an ideal candidate to perform solid-state NMR experiments to unravel changes at the surface level when the material undergoes thermal degradation. Second, variables which contribute to red emission were both explored and rationalized. Third, applications of red emissive CDs were investigated in both electronic and biological systems. The first application of the CDs involves the embedding of the CDs within PVP films to assess their potential to be used as coating additives for battery cathodes. Next, the CDs were investigated for their cell viability in vitro in a wide variety of cell lines both cancer and normal. . Additionally, the CDs were administered to zebrafish to evaluate ability to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) applied in zebrafish. Further imaging applications were applied in glioblastoma cells where the red emissive CDs were tailored with a homing peptide both to modulate cell specificity and enhance the fluorescence in cancer cells compared to healthy cells. To supplement the biological study, zebrafish embryos were imaged with a variety of CDs to show the clarity of red emissive CDs. Finally, to conclude the potential of the CDs produced in this study has been assessed for their use in photodynamic and photothermal therapies, specialized drug delivery with red fluorescent tracking, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) treatment.