Photonic Carbon Dots as an Emerging Nanoagent for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications

As a class of carbon-based nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) have attracted enormous attention because of their tunable optical and physicochemical properties, such as absorptivity and photoluminescence from ultraviolet to near-infrared, high photostability, biocompatibility, and aqueous dispersity. These characteristics make CDs a promising alternative photonic nanoagent to conventional fluorophores in disease diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare managements. This review describes the fundamental photophysical properties of CDs and highlights their recent applications to bioimaging, photomedicine (e.g., photodynamic/photothermal therapies), biosensors, and healthcare devices. We discuss current challenges and future prospects of photonic CDs to give an insight into developing vibrant fields of CD-based biomedicine and healthcare.