Fluorescent carbon dots with excellent moisture retention capability for moisturizing lipstick

Chen Dong,Shuna Wang,Ozioma U Akakuru,Ozioma U Akakuru,Hong Bi,Haizhen Ding,Xuemei Wang,Mingsheng Xu,Menghui Ma,Aiguo Wu,Aiguo Wu,Aiguo Wu,Zhengbao Zha

doi:10.1186/s12951-021-01029-6

Abstract

Long-lasting moisture retention is a huge challenge to humectants, and effective methods or additives for promote these functions are limited, especially nano-additives. Carbon dots (CDs) have attracted increasing research interest due to its ultra-small size, excellent optical properties and low toxicity, etc. However, most of researches have been focused on the photoexcited CDs and its subsequent photophysical and chemical processes, such as photoluminescence, photodynamic, photothermal and photocatalytic behavior. The intrinsic chemo-physical properties of the pristine CDs are not fully explored. Here, we report an excellent moisture retention capability of a new carmine cochineal-derived CDs (Car-CDs) for the first time. The relationship between the structure of Car-CDs and its moisture retention capability is revealed. More interestingly, the effective applications of Car-CDs in moisturizing lipstick are demonstrated. This work expands the research and application of CDs into a broad, new area, potentially in skin care.

Highlights

Humectants have been widely used in food, medicine, and cosmetics owing to their excellent water stabilization capacity during storage and transportation of products [1]
In summary, we have developed a new type of CarCDs with excellent moisture retention capability
Subsequent human skin tests confirmed that the Car-Carbon dots (CDs) were as effective as commercial moisturizers

Summary

Introduction

Humectants have been widely used in food, medicine, and cosmetics owing to their excellent water stabilization capacity during storage and transportation of products [1]. Cn †Chen Dong, Mingsheng Xu, Shuna Wang contributed to this work 1 School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Environment Friendly Polymer Materials of Anhui Province, Anhui Key Laboratory of Modern Biomanufacturing, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China 2 Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, CAS Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China 4 School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article and propylene glycol are used for moisturizing additives to improve the biocompatibility of the matrix and endow cosmetic products with moisture retention properties. The moisture retention function of Car-CDs in human skin was further evaluated with moisture measurement value method.

Results

Conclusion