Commercially activated carbon as the source for producing multicolor photoluminescent carbon dots by chemical oxidation

Abstract

Using commercially activated carbon, we developed a simple and effective direct chemical oxidation route to prepare good biocompatible multicolor photoluminescent carbon dots.

Enhanced photoluminescence and characterization of multicolor carbon dots using plant soot as a carbon source

“…The relative fluorescence quantum yield (Φ) of the C-dots was measured according to the procedure of a reported method [9] and calculated using the equation of Φ x ¼ Φ std I x A std η 2 x /I std A x η 2 std . The optical densities were measured on Shimadzu UV-2550 UV-vis spectrophometer.…”

“…Among them, carbon dots are a new class of functional nanomaterials exhibiting their inherently unique photoluminescent properties, such as wavelengthtuneable emission, excellent solubility, good biocompatibility and chemical inertion [7][8][9][10]. Unlike the semiconductor quantum dots derived from heavy metal precursors incurring long term toxicity [11], C-dots are environmentally friendly and lack of known cytotoxicity [12,13].…”

“…Surface passivation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been thought as an effective way to improve the fluorescent properties of the C-dots [7]. Other organic molecule, such as 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine (TTDDA), has also been used in surface passivation of C-dots derived from commercial activated carbon [9]. However, the large scale preparation and surface passivation of C-dots are still expected to provide highly fluorescent C-dots by using economical and facile approaches.…”

“…However, the large scale preparation and surface passivation of C-dots are still expected to provide highly fluorescent C-dots by using economical and facile approaches. Up to now, various carbon sources have been used to prepare C-dots such as laser ablation of graphite [19,20], electrochemical treatment of graphite [21], commercial activated carbon by bottom-up method [9], heating carbohydrate, watermelon peels or PEG with microwave pyrolysis [22][23][24]. The prepared C-dots are highly water-soluble, nano-sized and multi-colourful.…”

“…However, all these above-mentioned methods suffer from more or less drawbacks such as complex and time-consuming processes, severe synthetic conditions, and high cost, which limit their wide applications [25]. Thus, a low-cost and facile synthesis of C-dots from an economical carbon source is highly desired [2,9].…”