Preparation of fluorescent organic nanoparticles from polyethylenimine and sucrose for cell imaging

An approach for the synthesis of fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) with a quantum yield of about 14% has been developed using polyethylenimine and sucrose. The FONs were prepared under mild reaction condition. The obtained FONs showed high water dispersibility, intense fluorescence, excitation-dependent emission feature, excellent nanoparticle stability, and high photostability. The cytotoxicity of the FONs was also evaluated using A549 cells, and the cell viability value was demonstrated greater than 90% even when the concentration was up to 120μgmL(-1), which proved excellent biocompatibility and made them promising for cell imaging.