Generalized synthesis of biomolecule-derived and functionalized fluorescent carbon nanoparticle

Although wide variety of molecular precursors have been used for carbonization-based synthesis of fluorescent carbon nanoparticle, biomolecule-derived carbon nanoparticle with tunable fluorescence is difficult to synthesize. Here, we report a generalized approach for the preparation of fluorescent carbon nanoparticle from various biomolecules, such as lactose, ascorbic acid, tyrosine and sucrose. The method involves controlled carbonization of molecular precursor in ethylene glycol at 190°C in the presence of Na3PO4. The presented synthetic method can produce 20–30 mg of nanoparticles in one batch with fluorescence quantum yield in the range of 1–10% and nanoparticles can be conjugated with primary amine-terminated chemical/biochemical by simple incubation. These fluorescent carbon nanoparticles can be transformed into different nanobioconjugates for various biomedical applications.