Red-to-NIR-Fluorescent Graphene Quantum Dots for Biomedical Applications

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted extensive interest in biomedical applications because of their favorable physicochemical properties, including environmental friendliness, excellent water solubility, high chemical stability, and facile surface modification. However, most GQDs exhibit fluorescence in the ultraviolet or visible region, which limits their biomedical applications because autofluorescence from biological systems reduces the signal-to-noise ratio in biosensing and bioimaging. Over the past decade, the emission of GQDs has been extended from the UV–visible region into the red-to-near-infrared (NIR) region. Red-to-NIR fluorescence enables higher-resolution imaging and deeper tissue penetration by reducing light scattering and minimizing tissue absorption and autofluorescence. In this review, we summarize recent advances in red-to-NIR-fluorescent GQDs for biomedical applications, including their synthesis, optical properties, surface engineering, and applications in biosensing, bioimaging and theranostics. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future potential development of the red-to-NIR-fluorescent GQDs.