In this work，four types of water soluble carbon dots(CDs) with excellent optical properties were fabricated through hydrothermal(HT) or microwave(MW) assisted approach，using aconitic acid(AA) as the carbon precursor，and ethylenediamine(EDA) or urea as the co doping reagents.Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that among these CDs，three emitted blue fluorescence and one emitted yellow fluorescence.Subsequently，one blue fluorescent AA&EDA-HT-CDs with the highest absolute quantum yield of 57% and yellow fluorescent AA&Urea-MW-CDs with an absolute quantum yield of 44% were selected，and then a series of detailed characterizations were conducted for the systematical investigation on their size distribution，chemical composition and surface groups，etc.Furthermore，the responses of as prepared CDs toward metal ions as well as their cytotoxicity were evaluated.Finally，the prepared AA derived CDs were successfully applied in cellular bioimaging.