Carbon-dot-supported small molecule dyes as a light-harvesting platform for cell imaging

Abstract

Constructing an aqueous-phase light-harvesting scaffold with simple fabrication and excellent biocompatibility is of significant importance. Herein, blue-emitting carbon dots (BCDs), characterized by their unique core structure and abundant shell defects, were developed as a light-harvesting scaffold. An efficient artificial light-harvesting platform (ESY@BCDs) was constructed by co-assembling eosin Y (ESY), a commercial dye, exhibiting an ultrahigh energy-transfer efficiency (95%). Additionally, this CD-based light-harvesting platform was utilized for cell imaging successfully as the first example, to the best of our knowledge. This work could serve as a new versatile platform to construct aqueous-phase light-harvesting platforms for cell imaging.