article · Scientific Reports
Carbon dots were produced from the renewable leaves of the medicinal plant Azadirachta indica using a one-pot sand bath method. The resulting nanomaterials underwent structural and optical evaluation through several standard spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. In laboratory tests on a mouse fibroblast cell line, the materials showed concentration-dependent biocompatibility. Further testing demonstrated notable free radical scavenging and total antioxidant capacity. The synthesized carbon dots also exhibited antimicrobial activity, producing measurable zones of inhibition against two Gram-positive bacterial strains, two Gram-negative bacterial strains, and two fungal strains at low concentrations. In addition, cellular internalisation experiments on human breast cancer cells confirmed that the natural fluorescence of these carbon dots enables their use in bioimaging.
Developing functional nanomaterials from renewable plant sources provides a green alternative to conventional chemical synthesis. Because these plant-derived carbon dots combine low toxicity with natural fluorescence and antimicrobial properties, they offer versatile utility across diagnostics, antioxidant treatments, and infection control without relying on hazardous synthetic precursors.
This work demonstrates potential applications in bioimaging, antimicrobial formulations, and antioxidant products for the biomedical and diagnostics sectors. The technology remains at an early laboratory stage, having been tested strictly in vitro on cell cultures and microbial strains, meaning extensive safety profiling and in vivo validation will be required before clinical or commercial development can proceed.
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Abstract In this research work, carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized from the renewable leaves of an indigenous medicinal plant by the one-pot sand bath method, Azadirachta indica . The synthesized CDs were characterized for its optical properties using UV–Vis, Fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometry and for structural properties using dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and high resolution Transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The synthesized CDs exhibited concentration dependent biocompatibility when tested in mouse fibroblast L929 cell line. The EC 50 values of biomedical studies, free radical scavenging activity (13.87 μgmL −1 ), and total antioxidant capacity (38 μgmL −1 ) proved CDs were exceptionally good. These CDs showed an appreciable zone of inhibition when examined on four bacterial (two gram-positive and gram-negative) and two fungal strains at minimum concentrations. Cellular internalisation studies performed on human breast cancer cells (MCF 7- bioimaging) revealed the applicability of CDs in bioimaging, wherein the inherent fluorescence of CDs were utilised. Thus, the CDs developed are potential as bioimaging, antioxidants and antimicrobial agents.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33652-8
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