Abstract
We present a green synthesis of fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) by using red cabbage (rc) and a one-step hydrothermal approach. The rcCQDs were characterized by various techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The synthesized rcCQDs exhibited an average size of 3 nm, measured by TEM, blue fluorescence, and a quantum yield of 8.3%. The highest emission band was observed at approximately 402 nm when excited at 330 nm. The rcCQDs exhibited strong antioxidant activities by scavenging 61, 56, and 91% against 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl, and potassium permanganate radicals, respectively. The scavenging activity of rcCQDs was comparable with that of standard antioxidant L-ascorbic acid. Cell Counting Kit (CCK)–8 assay depicted superior bio-compatibility and negligible cytotoxicity of rcCQDs on SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. They were used as a fluorescent probe for bio-labeling of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The viabilities of the labeled bacterial cells were analyzed by AFM and UV-visible spectroscopy. Furthermore, the rcCQDs were utilized as a fluorescent ink, an alternative to pens, and maybe suitable for paints and varnish agents. This study provides detailed mechanistic insights into the antioxidant activity of as-synthesized rcCQDs, which suggest the practical applicability of CQDs for bio-medical applications.
Key points • Carbon quantum dots were prepared from red cabbage using the hydrothermal method. • The scavenging activity of rcCQDs was evaluated for DPPH, OH, and KMnO4 radicals. • The rcCQDs were used for the labeling of foodborne bacteria. • The rcCQDs could be utilized as fluorescent ink. |
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antolovich M, Prenzler PD, Patsalides E, McDonald S, Robards K (2002) Methods for testing antioxidant activity. Analyst. 127(1):183–198
Arkan E, Barati A, Rahmanpanah M, Hosseinzadeh L, Moradi S, Hajialyani M (2018) Green synthesis of carbon dots derived from walnut oil and an investigation of their cytotoxic and apoptogenic activities toward cancer cells. Adv Pharm Bull 8(1):149–155
Atchudan R, Edison TNJI, Aseer KR, Perumal S, Karthik N, Lee YR (2018) Highly fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots derived from Phyllanthus acidus utilized as a fluorescent probe for label-free selective detection of Fe3+ ions, live cell imaging and fluorescent ink. Biosens Bioelectron 99:303–311
Bandi R, Dadigala R, Gangapuram BR, Guttena V (2018) Green synthesis of highly fluorescent nitrogen–doped carbon dots from Lantana camara berries for effective detection of lead (II) and bioimaging. J Photochem Photobiol B Biol 178:330–338
Bhamore JR, Jha S, Park TJ, Kailasa SK (2019) Green synthesis of multi-color emissive carbon dots from Manilkara zapota fruits for bioimaging of bacterial and fungal cells. J Photochem Photobiol B Biol 191:150–155
Bhushan B, Kumar SU, Gopinath P (2016) Multifunctional carbon dots as efficient fluorescent nanotags for tracking cells through successive generations. J Mater Chem B 4(28):4862–4871
Brillas E, Sirés I, Oturan MA (2009) Electro-Fenton process and related electrochemical technologies based on Fenton’s reaction chemistry. Chem Rev 109(12):6570–6631
Chandra S, Das P, Bag S, Laha D, Pramanik P (2011) Synthesis, functionalization and bioimaging applications of highly fluorescent carbon nanoparticles. Nanoscale. 3(4):1533–1540
Das B, Dadhich P, Pal P, Srivas PK, Bankoti K, Dhara S (2014) Carbon nanodots from date molasses: new nanolights for the in vitro scavenging of reactive oxygen species. J Mater Chem B 2(39):6839–6847
Das P, Ganguly S, Bose M, Mondal S, Das AK, Banerjee S, Das NC (2017) A simplistic approach to green future with eco-friendly luminescent carbon dots and their application to fluorescent nano-sensor ‘turn-off’probe for selective sensing of copper ions. Mater Sci Eng C 75:1456–1464
Das P, Ganguly S, Maity PP, Srivastava HK, Bose M, Dhara S, Bandyopadhyay S, Das AK, Banerjee S, Das NC (2019) Converting waste Allium sativum peel to nitrogen and sulphur co-doped photoluminescence carbon dots for solar conversion, cell labeling, and photobleaching diligences: a path from discarded waste to value-added products. J Photochem Photobiol B Biol 197:111545
Ding H, Yu S-B, Wei J-S, Xiong H-M (2015) Full-color light-emitting carbon dots with a surface-state-controlled luminescence mechanism. ACS Nano 10(1):484–491
Draghici G, Alexandra LM, Aurica-Breica B, Nica D, Alda S, Liana A, Gogoasa I, Gergen I, Despina-Maria B (2013) Red cabbage, millennium’s functional food. J Hortic For Biotechnol 17(4):52–55
Du F, Shuang S, Guo Z, Gong X, Dong C, Xian M, Yang Z (2020) Rapid synthesis of multifunctional carbon nanodots as effective antioxidants, antibacterial agents, and quercetin nanoprobes. Talanta. 206:120243
Fei X, Sun W, Cao L, Jiao X, Lin D, Jia G (2016) Design and preparation of quantum dots fluorescent probes for in situ identification of Microthrix parvicella in bulking sludge. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100(2):961–968
Gao Z, Zhao C-X, Li Y-Y, Yang Y-L (2019) Beer yeast-derived fluorescent carbon dots for photoinduced bactericidal functions and multicolor imaging of bacteria. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 103(11):4585–4593
Gleiter H (2000) Nanostructured materials: basic concepts and microstructure. Acta Mater 48(1):1–29
Govindaraju S, Ramasamy M, Baskaran R, Ahn SJ, Yun K (2015) Ultraviolet light and laser irradiation enhances the antibacterial activity of glucosamine-functionalized gold nanoparticles. Int J Nanomedicine. 10(Spec Iss):67–78
Govindaraju S, Samal M, Yun K (2016) Superior antibacterial activity of GlcN-AuNP-GO by ultraviolet irradiation. Materials Science and Engineering: C 69:366–372
Gu D, Hong L, Zhang L, Liu H, Shang S (2018) Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped highly luminescent carbon dots for sensitive detection of Cd (II) ions and living cell imaging applications. J Photochem Photobiol B Biol 186:144–151
Hua X-W, Bao Y-W, Wang H-Y, Chen Z, Wu F-G (2017) Bacteria-derived fluorescent carbon dots for microbial live/dead differentiation. Nanoscale. 9(6):2150–2161
Khan S, Gupta A, Verma NC, Nandi CK (2015) Time-resolved emission reveals ensemble of emissive states as the origin of multicolor fluorescence in carbon dots. Nano Lett 15(12):8300–8305
Kumari B, Kumari R, Das P (2018) Visual detection of G-quadruplex with mushroom derived highly fluorescent carbon quantum dots. J Pharm Biomed Anal 157:137–144
Li H, Chen Q, Zhao J, Urmila K (2015) Enhancing the antimicrobial activity of natural extraction using the synthetic ultrasmall metal nanoparticles. Sci Rep 5:11033
Liang X, Govindaraju S, Yun K (2018) Dual applicability of polyaniline coated gold nanorods: a study of antibacterial and redox activity. BioChip J 12(2):137–145
Lim SY, Shen W, Gao Z (2015) Carbon quantum dots and their applications. Chem Soc Rev 44(1):362–381
Liu C, Zhang P, Zhai X, Tian F, Li W, Yang J, Liu Y, Wang H, Wang W, Liu W (2012) Nano-carrier for gene delivery and bioimaging based on carbon dots with PEI-passivation enhanced fluorescence. Biomaterials. 33(13):3604–3613
Lucente-Schultz RM, Moore VC, Leonard AD, Price BK, Kosynkin DV, Lu M, Partha R, Conyers JL, Tour JM (2009) Antioxidant single-walled carbon nanotubes. J Am Chem Soc 131(11):3934–3941
Mathelié-Guinlet M, Grauby-Heywang C, Martin A, Février H, Morote F, Vilquin A, Beven L, Delville M-H, Cohen-Bouhacina T (2018) Detrimental impact of silica nanoparticles on the nanomechanical properties of Escherichia coli, studied by AFM. J Colloid Interface Sci 529:53–64
Moradi S, Sadrjavadi K, Farhadian N, Hosseinzadeh L, Shahlaei M (2018) Easy synthesis, characterization and cell cytotoxicity of green nano carbon dots using hydrothermal carbonization of Gum Tragacanth and chitosan bio-polymers for bioimaging. J Mol Liq 259:284–290
Namdari P, Negahdari B, Eatemadi A (2017) Synthesis, properties and biomedical applications of carbon-based quantum dots: an updated review. Biomed Pharmacother 87:209–222
Okuda K, Hirota T, Hirobe M, Nagano T, Mochizuki M, Mashino T (2000) Synthesis of various water-soluble G60 derivatives and their superoxide-quenching activity. Fullerene Sci Techn 8(3):127–142
Pal T, Mohiyuddin S, Packirisamy G (2018) Facile and green synthesis of multicolor fluorescence carbon dots from curcumin: in vitro and in vivo bioimaging and other applications. ACS Omega 3(1):831–843
Pérez ZEJ, Mathiyalagan R, Markus J, Kim Y-J, Kang HM, Abbai R, Seo KH, Wang D, Soshnikova V, Yang DC (2017) Ginseng-berry-mediated gold and silver nanoparticle synthesis and evaluation of their in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxicity effects on human dermal fibroblast and murine melanoma skin cell lines. Int J Nanomedicine 12:709–723
Popović BM, Štajner D, Slavko K, Sandra B (2012) Antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.)–comparison between permanganate reducing antioxidant capacity and other antioxidant methods. Food Chem 134(2):734–741
Qu J-H, Wei Q, Sun D-W (2018) Carbon dots: principles and their applications in food quality and safety detection. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 58(14):2466–2475
Ruiz V, Yate L, García I, Cabanero G, Grande H-J (2017) Tuning the antioxidant activity of graphene quantum dots: protective nanomaterials against dye decoloration. Carbon. 116:366–374
Sachdev A, Gopinath P (2015) Green synthesis of multifunctional carbon dots from coriander leaves and their potential application as antioxidants, sensors and bioimaging agents. Analyst. 140(12):4260–4269
Sharma V, Tiwari P, Mobin SM (2017) Sustainable carbon-dots: recent advances in green carbon dots for sensing and bioimaging. J Mater Chem B 5(45):8904–8924
Shen J, Shang S, Chen X, Wang D, Cai Y (2017) Highly fluorescent N, S-co-doped carbon dots and their potential applications as antioxidants and sensitive probes for Cr (VI) detection. Sensors Actuators B Chem 248:92–100
Sun X, Lei Y (2017) Fluorescent carbon dots and their sensing applications. Trends Anal Chem 89:163–180
Tyagi A, Tripathi KM, Singh N, Choudhary S, Gupta RK (2016) Green synthesis of carbon quantum dots from lemon peel waste: applications in sensing and photocatalysis. RSC Adv 6(76):72423–72432
Venkateswarlu S, Viswanath B, Reddy AS, Yoon M (2018) Fungus-derived photoluminescent carbon nanodots for ultrasensitive detection of Hg2+ ions and photoinduced bactericidal activity. Sensors Actuators B Chem 258:172–183
Wang Y, Hu A (2014) Carbon quantum dots: synthesis, properties and applications. J Mater Chem C 2(34):6921–6939
Wang Y, Kim S-H, Feng L (2015) Highly luminescent N, S-Co-doped carbon dots and their direct use as mercury (II) sensor. Anal Chim Acta 890:134–142
Wang Y, Kong W, Wang L, Zhang JZ, Li Y, Liu X, Li Y (2019) Optimizing oxygen functional groups in graphene quantum dots for improved antioxidant mechanism. Phys Chem Chem Phys 21(3):1336–1343
Xu X, Ray R, Gu Y, Ploehn HJ, Gearheart L, Raker K, Scrivens WA (2004) Electrophoretic analysis and purification of fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotube fragments. J Am Chem Soc 126(40):12736–12737
Yang P, Zhao J, Zhang L, Li L, Zhu Z (2015) Intramolecular hydrogen bonds quench photoluminescence and enhance photocatalytic activity of carbon nanodots. Chem Eur J 21(23):8561–8568
Zhang W, Zeng Z, Wei J (2017) Electrochemical study of DPPH radical scavenging for evaluating the antioxidant capacity of carbon nanodots. J Phys Chem C 121(34):18635–18642
Zhao S, Lan M, Zhu X, Xue H, Ng T-W, Meng X, Lee C-S, Wang P, Zhang W (2015) Green synthesis of bifunctional fluorescent carbon dots from garlic for cellular imaging and free radical scavenging. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 7(31):17054–17060
Zhu S, Meng Q, Wang L, Zhang J, Song Y, Jin H, Zhang K, Sun H, Wang H, Yang B (2013) Highly photoluminescent carbon dots for multicolor patterning, sensors, and bioimaging. Angew Chem Int Ed 52(14):3953–3957
Zhu S, Song Y, Zhao X, Shao J, Zhang J, Yang B (2015) The photoluminescence mechanism in carbon dots (graphene quantum dots, carbon nanodots, and polymer dots): current state and future perspective. Nano Res 8(2):355–381
Acknowledgments
The bacterial cultures used in the study were kindly provided by Probiotics laboratory, Gachon University, South Korea.
Funding
This work was supported by the Gachon University research funds of 2019 (GCU-2019-0704). This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government (2017R1A2B4004700).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
KY conceived and designed research. NS and GSD conducted experiments. NS contributed new material for analysis. NS analyzed data. NS wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(PDF 617 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sharma, N., Das, G.S. & Yun, K. Green synthesis of multipurpose carbon quantum dots from red cabbage and estimation of their antioxidant potential and bio-labeling activity. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 104, 7187–7200 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10726-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10726-5