One-step synthesis of yellow-emissive carbon dots with a large Stokes shift and their application in fluorimetric imaging of intracellular pH

Abstract A new nanoprobe based on yellow-emissive carbon dots (Y-CDs) was developed for sensing full-range intracellular pH values. By using o-phenylenediamine as the raw material, Y-CDs with a quantum yield of 31% were prepared through a one-pot solvothermal carbonization method. The Y-CDs exhibited a distinctive fluorescence emission peak at 570 nm with excitation at 450 nm, showing a very large Stokes shift (120 nm). Notably, the nanoprobe revealed a linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and pH value within the range of pH 4.0 to 8.2, exhibiting the ability of this probe to monitor full-range intracellular pH variations. In addition, the nanosensor possessed excellent photostability and fluorescence reversibility in pH measurements and showed excellent selective detection of the influences of other biological species. The CD-based nanoprobe was successfully used to perform quantitative fluorescence imaging of intracellular pH variation, demonstrating its promise for application in cellular systems.