Preparation and photodynamic antibacterial/anticancer effects of ultralong-lifetime room-temperature phosphorescent N-doped carbon dots

Room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) N-doped carbon-dots (CNDs) featuring eco-friendliness, low cost and high biocompatibility, are ideal photodynamic antibacterial and anticancer nanomaterials. However, the existing CNDs are limited by low singlet oxygen (1O2) quantum yield, which has become a bottleneck in the development of CNDs. One basic reason is the short T1-state exciton lifetime of CNDs. Herein, triethylenetetramine hexaacetic acid was used to synthesize CNDs via a one-step hydrothermal method. CNDs are characterized with low toxicity, high biocompatibility and ultralong-lifetime RTP (URTP). In addition to the URTP (average lifetime 414 ms) under solid conditions, CNDs even had URTP (average lifetime 320 ms) in a water environment. The ultralong T1 exciton lifetime largely extends the collision time between T1 state excitons and O2 and prolongs the energy transfer time, not only improving the quantum yield (0.63) of singlet oxygen (1O2) in solution, but also facilitating the photodynamic antibacterial and anticancer effects.