Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

This study introduces a novel green hydrothermal synthesis approach using lotus seed plumules to prepare carbon quantum dots (L-CQDs) and systematically evaluates their potential applications in folic acid (FA) detection and bioimaging.L-CQDs, enriched with phytochem. constituents such as alkaloids and flavonoids, exhibit superior optical properties, biocompatibility, and low toxicity.For FA detection, L-CQDs demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity, achieving a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.27 μM with a binding constant (K_SV ) of 4271.04 L·mol^-1.Their practical applicability was confirmed through successful FA detection in human serum samples.Investigations into fluorescence lifetime, NMR, and zeta potential revealed that the interaction between L-CQDs and FA followed a static quenching mechanism, forming stable complexes.Both in vitro and in vivo experiments validated their low toxicity and biosafety, alongside significant imaging capabilities.These findings establish L-CQDs as efficient and multifunctional fluorescent probes for FA detection and biomedical research.