Hyperbranched polyglycerol conjugated fluorescent carbon dots with improved in vitro toxicity and red blood cell compatibility for bioimaging

Fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) have a variety of biomedical applications such as bio-imaging. Successful application of CDs in clinic greatly depends on their biocompatibility and favorable bio-functions. In the present study, we report a facile and efficient method to synthesize a CDs-based nanohybrid bearing a multi-hydroxy hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) shell by combing a “grafting from” method with an anionic ring-opening polymerization technique. The resultant CDs-g-HPG had high water-dispersibility, low cytotoxicity, improved hemocompatibility and strong green fluorescence. The results demonstrate that the CDs-g-HPG possesses promising potential for bio-imaging.