Bottom-Up Synthesis of Nitrogen and Oxygen Co-Decorated Carbon Quantum Dots With Enhanced Dna Plasmid Expression Publisher Pubmed



Yadegari A¹ ; Khezri J² ; Esfandiari S² ; Mahdavi H³ ; Karkhane AA² ; Rahighi R^{4, 7} ; Heidarimoghadam R⁵ ; Tayebi L¹ ; Hashemi E^{2, 8} ; Farmany A⁶
Source: Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces Published:2019

Abstract

In this paper, a bottom-up hydrothermal route is reported for the synthesis of oxygen and nitrogen co-decorated carbon quantum dots (CQDs) using ammonium hydrogen citrate (AHC) as a single precursor. DLS data approved the formation of 4.0 nm (average size) CQDs. XRD pattern shows the interlayer spacing (002) of 3.5 A for CQDs, which is exactly the same as that of crystalline graphite. XPS and FTIR spectra verified the formation of oxygen and nitrogen functional groups on the CQDs surface. Co-decorated carboxyl, hydroxyl and amine groups on the CQDs surfaces make them as promising polyelectrolyte for gene delivery. Toxicity assay showed a survival rate of 70% under different incubation times and up to 500 μg/mL. The highly water-soluble, stable fluorescence and low toxic CQDs increased the gene expression of DNA plasmid in E. coli bacteria 4-fold more than the control group. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.