Carbon is nature’s most abundant and useful element. Carbon nanomaterials with small size and unique optical properties have attracted tremendous interest for their promising biomedical applications. Carbon nanoparticles that exhibit fluorescence property are called as carbon quantum dots and they have emerged as a new class of carbon-based nanomaterials. In this chapter, we look at the unique properties of carbon quantum dots, their synthesis, material as well as optical characterizations, origin of fluorescence nature and applications of carbon quantum dots in bioimaging.
Part of the book: State of the Art in Nano-bioimaging