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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
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Porphyrins are well-known photosensitizers with applications in photodynamic treatments for oncology and antimicrobial therapies, mainly due to their high singlet oxygen (1O2) quantum yield. However, challenges such as poor water solubility and complex multi-step synthetic procedure still hinder their clinical development. This study presents an innovative one-pot method for the synthesis of water-soluble and red-emitting porphyrin virucidal photosensitizers in the form of carbon polymer dots by direct thermal processing of glycine. We have made a significant stride by extending glycine condensation beyond the traditional formation of polypeptides, now achieving the remarkable generation and self-assembly of porphyrin derivatives within a carbonized polymeric matrix. The resultant “porphyrin-like dots” exhibit high water solubility, biocompatibility, strong photoluminescence and efficient singlet oxygen generation, as demonstrated by Indocyanine Green photodegradation tests. Notably, the dots also displayed significant photoinduced virucidal activity against Vaccinia virus, with up to 92% inactivation at the highest concentration. These findings propose the produced porphyrin-like dots as promising theranostic tools for biomedical applications, combining potential diagnostic imaging and therapeutics functions. (Carbon 2025, 245, 120771)
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The demand for biocompatible multifunctional systems for bioimaging is driving the interest in new-generation fluorescent peptide based on nonaromatic amino acids such as L-glutamic acid and Lalanine. In general, due to the high melting points characterizing the zwitterionic structures of amino acids, their thermal polymerization is performed at temperatures between 200 and 300 °C. However, in this range of temperatures, most of the amino acids tend to decompose rather than undergo polymerization. The present work shows how to obtain nonaromatic fluorescent peptides at temperatures as low as 160 °C by copolymerizing L-glutamic acid with other high-melting amino acids, such as L-alanine, L-valine, and L-leucine. The low-temperature conversion of Lglutamic acid into pyroglutamic acid and its copolymerization with another amino acid were fully characterized by infrared and NMR spectroscopies, MS spectrometry, and thermal analysis. The reaction is mediated by the in situ transformation of L-glutamic acid into pyroglutamic acid, which acts simultaneously as an inomer, initiator + monomer, as well as a dispersing agent, allowing copolymerization with another amino acid. The resulting peptides exhibit fluorescent emission in the visible range typical of PGA derivatives, but they also possess a diCerent polar nature that is inherited by the side chain of the second amino acid. (Macromolecules 2024, 57, 10418)
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One-Step Fabrication of Carbon Dot-Based Nanocomposites Powering Solid-State Random Lasingy
Carbon dots (CDs) have attracted much attention for applications in photonics and optoelectronics because of their high emission efficiency and ease of synthesis.
Although studies in solution are well established, solid-state applications are less common because of optical quenching phenomena that critically affect CDs. Herein, the synthesis of amorphous CDs from citric acid, operating as hosts of dye molecules, and their incorporation into organic–inorganic silica matrices through a fast photo-induced polymerization process are reported. The photocurable sol composition allows easy dispersion of nanometer-sized scattering centers, such as titania or gold nanoparticles (NPs), which have been incorporated, along with CDs, into nanocomposites. The combination of highbrightness CDs and nanoscatterers in the hybrid matrices allows for achieving and investigating the random lasing processes occurring in the orange-red range of the visible spectrum. In situ-grown gold NPs contribute to a significant improvement in solid-state lasing, enabling an emission as narrow as 5 nm and a laser threshold as low as 0.3 mJ pulse1. The present approach reveals the technological and scientific potential of CDs when embedded in solid-state disordered active media. (Small Strcutures 2025, 6, 2400498, Open Acces)
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Updated 03 February 2026
LMNT Laboratory of Materials Science and NanoTechnology - Department of Engineering, University of Sassari.
Via Vienna 2,, 07100 Sassari (SS)Tel. lab.: +39 079 998528. Contact: lucamalfatti@uniss.it
