Highly fluorescent water-soluble and nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCDs) were synthesized by a simple one-pot hydrothermal method using citric acid as carbon source and urea as nitrogen source.
Nitrogen doped carbon dots (N-CDs) have been prepared via a one-pot hydrothermal method by using formamide and o-phenylenediamine as the carbon precursors for Fe3+ and HPO42− detection.