Development of a carbon quantum dots-based fluorescent Cu~(2+)probe suitable for living cell imaging

摘要

An efficient strategy for selective fluorescent detection of Cu~(2+) was developed based on the carbon quantum dots (CQDs) nanoconjugated with a specific organic molecule, amino TPEA, and further applied to intracellular sensing and imaging of Cu(2+) as a consequence of the fluorescence properties and the estab-lished low cytotoxicity of CQDs.