The potential of carbon dots produced from mangosteen through green synthesis for induced-cell proliferation and fluorescence bioimaging

We report the simple one-step hydrothermal green synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) without any chemical reagents using mangosteen pulp (CDs1), peel (CDs2), and leaf (CDs3) extract as a green carbon source. In the aqueous medium, these CDs had a size of 8–15 nm with an energy gap of about 4 eV. The CDs emitted a bright green color under ultraviolet (UV) irritation with an average fluorescence quantum yield of the CDs of 1.6%. Moreover, the CDs contained various functional groups, such as C = C, C–C, C–O–C, C–O, C = O, C–H, and O–H, which were beneficial for enhancing their fluorescence property. Furthermore, the CDs were applied in the stain fluorescent imaging of myosatellite chicken stem cells and Vero cells. The CDs2 and CDs3 induced a strong fluorescence emission intensity of the strain cells, whereas CDs1 acted as the highest potential enhancer in cell proliferation as confirmed by its cellular viability which was the around four times that of the control. Therefore, the CDs were highly biocompatible and acted as enhancers in cell proliferation in myosatellite chicken stem cells and Vero cells. Thus, simple, cost-effective, scalable, and green synthetic approach-based CDs show promise for the development of selective organelle labeling and optical sensing probes.

Graphical abstract