Preparation and Biomedical Applications of Multicolor Carbon Dots: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

Multicolor carbon dots (CDs) as an emerging subclass of carbonaceous nanomaterials have inspired intensive attention due to the fascinating fluorogenic properties of quantum dots, exhibiting great potential applications in the biomedical field. In some cases, reported CDs with blue or green fluorescence are not desirable for further biological applications owing to the conflicting background autofluorescence, low penetration, and relatively large damage to biological tissue. However, multicolor CDs that can work in the longer wavelength region are being developed to address this issue by overcoming the autofluorescence from the cellular components (usually in the blue and green range). In this review, the development of multicolor CDs is described comprehensively, including for red-emissive or NIR-emissive CDs. Additionally, the preparation methods of multicolor CDs are summarized. Moreover, the factors affecting the luminescence of multicolor CDs are discussed in detail, and the biomedical applications are emphasized from multiple perspectives.