Photoluminescent carbon nanomaterials, or carbon dots (CDs), are an emerging class of materials that has recently attracted considerable attention for biomedical and energy applications. They are defined by characteristic sizes of <10 nm, a carbon-based core, and the possibility to add various functional groups at their surface for targeted applications. These nanomaterials possess many interesting physicochemical and optical properties, including tuneable light emission, dispersibility and low toxicity. In this Review, we categorize how chemical tools impact the properties of CDs. We look for pre-and post-synthetic approaches for the preparation of CDs and their derivatives or composites. We then showcase examples to correlate structure, composition, and function and use them to discuss the future development for this class of nanomaterials. monomer/polymer as starting materials. Historically, the top-down strategy was first exploited and consisted mainly of electrochemical or chemical oxidation of graphite. 7 While these approaches can yield relatively large quantities of CDs, they usually employ harsh conditions (in terms of voltage applied or chemical oxidant used), long synthetic times, and still need post-synthetic procedures to tune the optoelectronic properties. From the fluorescence perspective, oxidative cutting of carbon sources leads to more structural defects, resulting in less appealing photoluminescence properties.Currently, the bottom-up syntheses are more popular and will be the focus of this Review. In addition to the multitude of molecular precursors available, other benefits include multiple choices of thermal treatments, quicker reaction times, and more uniform properties in the final material. The choice of precursors and synthetic procedures (i.e. pre-synthetic control) affects the physicochemical properties of CDs in terms of size, graphitization degree, surface functional groups, and doping. Nevertheless, the structural features of the precursors can be retained in the nanoparticles, allowing for some degree of predictability. Single-component, to a certain extent, and multi-component reactions enable the use of straightforward doping strategies. These include heteroatoms (examples here include boron, nitrogen, sulfur, selenium, or a combination of them) and metals (such as lanthanides).Besides pre-synthetic control, engineering the surface composition via post-synthetic approaches is a promising way to optimize and expand the utilization of CDs (Fig. 1b). Post-synthetic strategies usually affect the surface functional groups of the CDs since they are generally inefficient in changing properties and chemical composition of the core. Exploiting their surface chemistry also prompted the development of multifunctional CD-based materials (Fig. 1c).There are many excellent sources of information about the intricacies of CDs properties [7][8][9][10][11] and their applications, [12][13][14][15][16] as well as their progress in comparison to traditional inorganic quantum dots. 17 At first, emphas...
The chirality of (nano)structures is paramount in many phenomena, including biological processes, self-assembly, enantioselective reactions, and light or electron spin polarization. In the quest for new chiral materials, metallo-organic hybrids have been attractive candidates for exploiting the aforementioned scientific fields. Here, we show that chiral carbon nanoparticles, called carbon nanodots, can be readily prepared using hydrothermal microwave-assisted synthesis and easily purified. These particles, with a mean particle size around 3 nm, are highly soluble in water and display mirror-image profile both in the UV–Vis and in the infrared regions, as detected by electronic and vibrational circular dichroism, respectively. Finally, the nanoparticles are used as templates for the formation of chiral supramolecular porphyrin assemblies, showing that it is possible to use and transfer the chiral information. This simple (and effective) methodology opens up exciting opportunities for developing a variety of chiral composite materials and applications.
A carbon nanodot–paclitaxel drug delivery system with enhanced anticancer activity as compared to the free drug is reported.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.