Citation: Huijun Li, Sancan Han, Bowen Lyu, Ting Hong, Shibo Zhi, Ling Xu, Fengfeng Xue, Liman Sai, Junhe Yang, Xianying Wang, Bin He. Tunable light emission from carbon dots by controlling surface defects[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2021, 32(9): 2887-2892. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2021.03.051 shu

Tunable light emission from carbon dots by controlling surface defects

Huijun Li ^{a, 1} ,
Sancan Han ^{a, 1} ,
Bowen Lyu ^a ,
Ting Hong ^b ,
Shibo Zhi ^a ,
Ling Xu ^c ,
Fengfeng Xue ^d ,
Liman Sai ^e ,
Junhe Yang ^a ,
Xianying Wang ^{a, *,} ,
Bin He ^{b, *,}

a.
School of Material Science & Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
b.
Department of Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
c.
School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200093, China
d.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai 201318, China
e.
Department of Physics, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China

xianyingwang@usst.edu.cn

hebinicu@139.com

Received Date: 21 January 2021
Revised Date: 18 March 2021
Accepted Date: 19 March 2021
Available Online: 22 March 2021

Figures(6)

Carbon dots (CDs) are metal-free fluorescent materials that can be used in optical and electronic devices, but few studies have focused on one-step synthesis routes for CDs with tunable color and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). Herein, CDs with tunable light emission were synthesized using a novel amide-assisted solvothermal approach. The as-prepared CDs were well dispersed and homogeneous, with average diameters of approximately 2.0–4.0 nm, depending on the dopants. Owing to the surface states with different ratios of nitrogen- and oxygen-related species, different CDs can exhibit blue, green, red, or white emission with relatively high PLQYs of 61.6%, 41.3%, 29.1% and 19.7%, respectively. XPS measurements, in conjunction with DFT calculations, indicate that nitrogen substitution (pyridinic/pyrrolic nitrogen) dominates the blue emission, while introducing oxygen functional groups lowered the LUMO energy level, which resulted in redder emission. In addition, the CDs are demonstrated as a bioimaging probe in bothin vitro and in vivo assays, and the white light CDs have been demonstrated to be potential fluorescent materials for white-light-emitting diode (WLED).
- Carbon dots,
- Fluorescence,
- Structural engineering,
- Energy gap,
- White light emission
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