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Manipulating the Optical Properties of Carbon Dots by Fine‐Tuning their Structural Features
Author(s) -
Luo Hui,
Papaioannou Nikolaos,
Salvadori Enrico,
Roessler Maxie M.,
Ploenes Gereon,
Eck Ernst R. H.,
Tanase Liviu C.,
Feng Jingyu,
Sun Yiwei,
Yang Yan,
Danaie Mohsen,
Belen Jorge Ana,
Sapelkin Andrei,
Durrant James,
Dimitrov Stoichko D.,
Titirici MariaMagdalena
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201901795
Subject(s) - carbon fibers , nanotechnology , quantum dot , materials science , composite material , composite number
As a new class of sustainable carbon material, “carbon dots” is an umbrella term covering many types of materials. Herein, a broad range of techniques was used to develop the understanding of hydrothermally synthesized carbon dots, and it is shown how fine‐tuning the structural features by simple reduction/oxidation reactions can drastically affect their excited‐state properties. Structural and spectroscopic studies found that photoluminescence originates from direct excitation of localized fluorophores involving oxygen functional groups, whereas excitation at graphene‐like features leads to ultrafast phonon‐assisted relaxation and largely quenches the fluorescent quantum yields. This is arguably the first study to identify the dynamics of photoluminescence including Stokes shift and allow the relaxation pathways in these carbon dots to be fully resolved. This comprehensive investigation sheds light on how understanding the excited‐state relaxation processes in different carbon structures is crucial for tuning the optical properties for any potential commercial applications.