Biomass-derived potential nano-biomaterials: Protein binding, anti-biofilm activity and bio-imaging

Deriving carbon dots (CDs) from renewable sources is gaining popularity due to their prevalence, cost effectiveness, improved aqueous solubility, and increased biocompatibility. CDs, which are made up of crystalline graphitized carbon cores and multiple surface groups, are now spawning a lot of attention in the biological domains. Herein, the CDs were derived from dried rose petals using hydrothermal route and were completely characterized utilizing pivotal techniques. The prepared CDs are spherical particles that are approximately 5-6nm in size and have exceptional stability when exposed to pH and light irradiation. The derived CDs are excitation dependent fluorescent in nature with the quantum yield of 6%. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding interaction has been studied with CDs and evaluated through Stern-Volmer equation. The fluorescence quenching mechanism of BSA by CDs followed static type, is further confirmed by the lifetime studies. The binding mode of the CDs with BSA has been studied by molecular docking and the computed binding free energy for CDs is calculated to be -9.62 kcal/mol. Antibiofilm activity revealed that CDs were efficient in reducing the biofilm formations in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterium. Predominantly, CDs used in this study were significant in reducing the biofilms of gram-negative bacterium. Furthermore, the CDs are effectively used as an efficient biological probe for bioimaging studies.