An easy, large-scale synthesis of N-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs) was developed by using isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as a single carbon source under microwave irradiation. The yield of raw N-doped CQDs was about 83%, which is suitable for industrial-scale production. A detailed formation mechanism for N-doped CQDs involving self-polymerization and condensation of IPDI was demonstrated. Moreover, the obtained N-doped CQDs can be homogeneously dispersed in various organic monomers and do not need toxic organic solvents as dispersing agents. This advantage expands the range of applications of CQDs in composites. The N-doped CQDs dispersed in polyurethane (PU) matrixes emit not only fluorescence but also phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence at room temperature upon excitation with ultraviolet (UV) light. Furthermore, the phosphorescence of CQD/PU composites is sensitive to oxygen and therefore, the obtained-CQDs could be exploited in the development of novel oxygen sensors.

By combining experiment and molecular simulation, in this work we have systematically elucidated the fundamental mechanism of the significantly improved damping property of nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) contributed by the introduction of hindered phenol (AO-80) small molecules. At the molecular level, through FTIR, 1 H-NMR and temperature-dependent FTIR, it is observed that hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) interaction exists between AO-80 small molecules and NBR polymer chains, leading to the formation of a H-bonds network structure. Meanwhile, positron annihilation lifetime spectrometer (PALS) and molecular dynamics simulation were also employed to characterize the fractional free volume for different NBR/AO-80 mixtures and it reached the minimum at the blending mass ratio of 100/60, which also possesses the largest number of H-bonds and the greatest binding energy through quantitative comparison. All of these microscopic analyses just rationalize the maximum dynamic loss factor. Therefore, it was indicated that there was an optimum ratio of rubber to hindered phenol molecules for achieving the maximum damping property. These fundamental studies are expected to provide some useful information to design and fabricate the high-performance polymeric damping materials.

Amphiphilic quantum dots with phosphorescence properties have been synthesized and applied for ion detection and two-photon cell imaging.

Here, we report a three-layer-structured hybrid nanostructure consisting of transition metal oxide TiO(2) nanoparticles sandwiched between carbonaceous polymer polyaniline (PANI) and graphene nanosheets (termed as PTG), which, by simultaneously hindering the agglomeration of TiO(2) nanoparticles and enhancing the conductivity of PTG electrode, enables fast discharge and charge. It was demonstrated that the PTG exhibited improved electrochemical performance compared to pure TiO(2). As a result, PTG nanocomposite is a promising anode material for highly efficient lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with fast charge/discharge rate and high enhanced cycling performance [discharge capacity of 149.8 mAh/g accompanying Coulombic efficiency of 99.19% at a current density of 5C (1000 mA/g) after 100 cycles] compared to pure TiO(2). We can conclude that the concept of applying three-layer-structured graphene-based nanocomposite to electrode in LIBs may open a new area of research for the development of practical transition-metal oxide graphene-based electrodes which will be important to the progress of the LIBs science and technology.

A new strategy for efficient RTP from CDs by engineering the conjugation degree and controlling the hydrogen-bonding structure is proposed.