Carbon dots: Biomacromolecule interaction, bioimaging and nanomedicine

Abstract Carbon dots, a recent member of the renowned carbon-based nanomaterials family, have attracted significant interest from various fields. The extraordinary properties, including excellent photoluminescence, high biocompatibility, and tunable surface functionalities as well as the abundant and inexpensive nature, have led to remarkable bioapplications in bioimaging, drug delivery, and theranostics development. In this article, studies on the interaction of C-dots with biomacromolecules are reviewed first, and recent developments of C-dots for target-specific bioimaging, drug delivery as well as theranostics development are highlighted and discussed.