Abstract
Carbon nitride dots (CNDs) were first synthesized using a series of urea derivatives as precursors alongside citric acid to compare and contrast the characteristic differences implied through different precursors. Slight variations were observed and one precursor set was selected as candidate for the following biomedical applications. The non-toxicity and biocompatibility of CNDs were studied and in vitro imaging studies were involved to investigate possible cellular entry mechanism of CNDs. Follow up applications were conducted using CNDs as a nanocarrier for possible therapeutic delivery to tumor sites for treatments. In this regard, an in vitro study was conducted for the target-specific delivery of gemcitabine therapeutic to high-grade pediatric glioblastoma tumors. Anti-tumor efficacy and target delivery capacity was investigated. Further, CNDs capability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to reach these tumors were investigated using a zebrafish model. Interestingly, CNDs showed self-ability of BBB penetration thus, illustrating its great potential as a target nanocarrier. The CNDs were utilized as a nanocarrier in another drug delivery system of doxorubicin delivery to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, where it demonstrated great potency of in vivo usage and as a possible clinical agent in tumor chemo-treatments. Conjugation of CNDs drug loading and possible analytical quantification of drug loading was investigated as an added advantage for these applications in order to track dosing. The CNDs capability of biosensing was also studied involving a copper containing enzyme, tyrosinase using photoluminescence quenching. Hence, CNDs are proven to be a promising nanomaterial with great potency in vast biomedical applications.