Synthesis of a novel green carbon dots as a bioimaging agent and a drug delivery system for enhanced antioxidant and antibacterial efficacy
Abstract Background Now-a-days, synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) from renewable sources has attracted considerable attention due to their wide spread availability, lower cost, higher aqueous solubility and more biocompatibility. Here, we have synthesized water soluble CDs from the root extract of red Korean ginseng via simple microwave irradiation. The CDs were further loaded with a natural flavonoid, rutin, to check its efficacy as a drug delivery system. Result The CDs showed a size distribution between 1–4 nm and excitation-dependent fluorescence emission, and could be used as a bio-imaging agent.The CDs showed a drug loading content of 14% and a sustained drug release behavior at physiological conditions. CDs showed excellent free radical scavenging activity both in cell free systems and intra-cellular conditions. Besides, loading with the drug further improved the intra-cellular radical scavenging activity. The CDs and the nanohybrids also showed very little toxicity upto the concentration of 100 µg/mL in normal kidney epithelial cells. The CDs and the nanohybrids also showed a dose-dependent antibacterial effect against both gram negative as well as gram positive bacteria. Conclusion Our synthesized green CDs can be considered as a promising candidate for the biomedical applications due to its facile synthesis, low cytotoxicity, excellent fluorescent properties and potential as drug delivery systems.