Advances in the Methods for the Synthesis of Carbon Dots and Their Emerging Applications

Abstract

Cutting-edge technologies are making inroads into new areas and this remarkable progress has been successfully influenced by the tiny level engineering of carbon dots technology, their synthesis advancement and impressive applications in the field of allied sciences. The advances of science and its conjugation with interdisciplinary fields emerged in carbon dots making, their controlled characterization and applications into faster, cheaper as well as more reliable products in various scientific domains. Thus, a new era in nanotechnology has developed into carbon dots technology. The understanding of the generation process, control on making processes and selected applications of carbon dots such as energy storage, environmental monitoring, catalysis, contaminates detections and complex environmental forensics, drug delivery, drug targeting and other biomedical applications, etc., are among the most promising applications of carbon dots and thus it is a prominent area of research today. In this regard, various types of carbon dot nanomaterials such as oxides, their composites and conjugations, etc., have been garnering significant attention due to their remarkable potential in this prominent area of energy, the environment and technology. Thus, the present paper highlights the role and importance of carbon dots, recent advancements in their synthesis methods, properties and emerging applications.

Green fluorescent nanomaterials for rapid detection of chromium and iron ions: wool keratin-based carbon quantum dots

“… 12–14 Several synthesis methods of carbon quantum dots have been developed, including laser ablation, arc discharge, electrochemical method, microwave method, hydrothermal method, etc. , 15 among which hydrothermal method is attracting attention for the lower energy consumption and convenient operation. Small molecules such as citric acid, 16 glucose 17 and amino acid 18–21 have been used as precursors for the synthesis of carbon dots by hydrothermal method.…”

Utilization of Incense Stick Ash in Hydrometallurgy Methods for Extracting Oxides of Fe, Al, Si, and Ca

“…A sharp band at 673 cm −1 was attributed to the external plane bending vibrations of the CO 3 2− [ 76 ]. Another sharp band at 588 cm −1 was attributed to the vibrations of the Ca-O bond [ 77 ].…”

Synthesis of Doped/Hybrid Carbon Dots and Their Biomedical Application

“…CDs can be synthesized by several methods, for example arc-discharge, laser ablation, sonochemical, microwave, hydrothermal and electrochemical methods and strong acid oxidation [ 4 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. The first synthetic procedure was developed for the formation of pristine CDs by an arc discharge procedure [ 57 , 58 , 59 ]. It involved a polymerization reaction of small organic molecules followed by carbonization to form CDs.…”

“…Generally, metal- and nonmetal-doped CDs have been classified into two groups: (i) top-down methods and (ii) bottom-up methods. Under the top-down synthesis method, larger carbon structures are broken down using chemical oxidation, discharge, the electrochemical oxidation of carbon, and ultrasonic methods [ 58 , 59 ]. However, this top-down approach has a number of disadvantages, such as harsh reaction conditions, expensive materials, and long reaction times [ 60 , 61 , 62 ].…”