scholarly journals Formation of Carbon Quantum Dots via Hydrothermal Carbonization: Investigate the Effect of Precursors

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 986
Author(s):  
Md Rifat Hasan ◽  
Nepu Saha ◽  
Thomas Quaid ◽  
M. Toufiq Reza

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are nanomaterials with a particle size range of 2 to 10 nm. CQDs have a wide range of applications such as medical diagnostics, bio-imaging, biosensors, coatings, solar cells, and photocatalysis. Although the effect of various experimental parameters, such as the synthesis method, reaction time, etc., have been investigated, the effect of different feedstocks on CQDs has not been studied yet. In this study, CQDs were synthesized from hydroxymethylfurfural, furfural, and microcrystalline cellulose via hydrothermal carbonization at 220 °C for 30 min of residence time. The produced CQDs showed green luminescence behavior under the short-wavelength UV light. Furthermore, the optical properties of CQDs were investigated using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and emission spectrophotometer, while the morphology and chemical bonds of CQDs were investigated using transmission electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Results showed that all CQDs produced from various precursors have absorption and emission properties but these optical properties are highly dependent on the type of precursor. For instance, the mean particle sizes were 6.36 ± 0.54, 5.35 ± 0.56, and 3.94 ± 0.60 nm for the synthesized CQDs from microcrystalline cellulose, hydroxymethylfurfural, and furfural, respectively, which appeared to have similar trends in emission intensities. In addition, the synthesized CQDs experienced different functionality (e.g., C=O, O-H, C-O) resulting in different absorption behavior.

NANO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2050151
Author(s):  
Kailai Liu ◽  
Fanmin Kong ◽  
Chaoqun Zhu ◽  
Guodong Jiang

Double element co-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have unique electron properties and broad prospects in photocatalysis. In this paper, the phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped CQDs (PNCQDs) were loaded on TiO2 nanosheets by in-situ synthesis method. Physical structure and chemical composition of samples were analyzed by XRD, FT-IR, XPS, SEM and TEM. UV–Vis spectra show the donor–acceptor coupling between PNCQDs and TiO2 and enhanced strong UV light absorption. Photoluminescence spectra indicate that PNCQDs effectively promote charge separation, which is different from nitrogen doped CQDs. The sample 1-PNCT with the optimal phosphorus doping amount has the highest kinetic constant for photodegradation of Methylene Blue (MB), which is 3.4 times pure TiO2. A possible Z-scheme photodegradation mechanism is proposed according to the active species scavenge experiment results in which PNCQDs can not only accept but also localize photogenerated electrons to dopant sites due to the quantum wells created by P and N doping energy barriers.


Materials ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 466
Author(s):  
Kaixin Chang ◽  
Qianjin Zhu ◽  
Liyan Qi ◽  
Mingwei Guo ◽  
Woming Gao ◽  
...  

Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) were synthesized in a one-step hydrothermal technique utilizing L-lactic acid as that of the source of carbon and ethylenediamine as that of the source of nitrogen, and were characterized using dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ultraviolet-visible spectrum, Fourier-transformed infrared spectrum, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence spectrum. The generated N-CQDs have a spherical structure and overall diameters ranging from 1–4 nm, and their surface comprises specific functional groups such as amino, carboxyl, and hydroxyl, resulting in greater water solubility and fluorescence. The quantum yield of N-CQDs (being 46%) is significantly higher than that of the CQDs synthesized from other biomass in literatures. Its fluorescence intensity is dependent on the excitation wavelength, and N-CQDs release blue light at 365 nm under ultraviolet light. The pH values may impact the protonation of N-CQDs surface functional groups and lead to significant fluorescence quenching of N-CQDs. Therefore, the fluorescence intensity of N-CQDs is the highest at pH 7.0, but it decreases with pH as pH values being either more than or less than pH 7.0. The N-CQDs exhibit high sensitivity to Fe3+ ions, for Fe3+ ions would decrease the fluorescence intensity of N-CQDs by 99.6%, and the influence of Fe3+ ions on N-CQDs fluorescence quenching is slightly affected by other metal ions. Moreover, the fluorescence quenching efficiency of Fe3+ ions displays an obvious linear relationship to Fe3+ concentrations in a wide range of concentrations (up to 200 µM) and with a detection limit of 1.89 µM. Therefore, the generated N-CQDs may be utilized as a robust fluorescence sensor for detecting pH and Fe3+ ions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurpal Singh ◽  
Harinder Kaur ◽  
Akanksha Sharma ◽  
Joga Singh ◽  
Hema Kumari Alajangi ◽  
...  

Detection of cancer at an early stage is one of the principal factors associated with successful treatment outcome. However, current diagnostic methods are not capable of making sensitive and robust cancer diagnosis. Nanotechnology based products exhibit unique physical, optical and electrical properties that can be useful in diagnosis. These nanotech-enabled diagnostic representatives have proved to be generally more capable and consistent; as they selectively accumulated in the tumor site due to their miniscule size. This article rotates around the conventional imaging techniques, the use of carbon based nanodots viz Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs), Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs), Nanodiamonds, Fullerene, and Carbon Nanotubes that have been synthesized in recent years, along with the discovery of a wide range of biomarkers to identify cancer at early stage. Early detection of cancer using nanoconstructs is anticipated to be a distinct reality in the coming years.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Wang ◽  
Pei Yang ◽  
Qian Feng ◽  
Taotao Meng ◽  
Jing Wei ◽  
...  

Biomass-based carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have become a significant carbon materials by their virtues of being cost-effective, easy to fabricate and low in environmental impact. However, there are few reports regarding using cyanobacteria as a carbon source for the synthesis of fluorescent CQDs. In this study, the low-cost biomass of cyanobacteria was used as the sole carbon source to synthesize water-soluble CQDs by a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized CQDs were mono-dispersed with an average diameter of 2.48 nm and exhibited excitation-dependent emission performance with a quantum yield of 9.24%. Furthermore, the cyanobacteria-derived CQDs had almost no photobleaching under long-time UV irradiation, and exhibited high photostability in the solutions with a wide range of pH and salinity. Since no chemical reagent was involved in the synthesis of CQDs, the as-prepared CQDs were confirmed to have low cytotoxicity for PC12 cells even at a high concentration. Additionally, the CQDs could be efficiently taken up by cells to illuminate the whole cell and create a clear distinction between cytoplasm and nucleus. The combined advantages of green synthesis, cost-effectiveness and low cytotoxicity make synthesized CQDs a significant carbon source and broaden the application of cyanobacteria and provide an economical route to fabricate CQDs on a large scale.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Gomes ◽  
Y. F. Gomes ◽  
A. Lopes-Moriyama ◽  
E. L. de Barros Neto ◽  
Carlson Pereira de Souza

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganeshlenin Kandasamy

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs)/carbon nanodots are a new class of fluorescent carbon nanomaterials having an approximate size in the range of 2–10 nm. The majority of the reported review articles have discussed about the development of the CQDs (via simple and cost-effective synthesis methods) for use in bio-imaging and chemical-/biological-sensing applications. However, there is a severe lack of consolidated studies on the recently developed CQDs (especially doped/co-doped) that are utilized in different areas of application. Hence, in this review, we have extensively discussed about the recent development in doped and co-doped CQDs (using elements/heteroatoms—e.g., boron (B), fluorine (F), nitrogen (N), sulphur (S), and phosphorous (P)), along with their synthesis method, reaction conditions, and/or quantum yield (QY), and their emerging multi-potential applications including electrical/electronics (such as light emitting diode (LED) and solar cells), fluorescent ink for anti-counterfeiting, optical sensors (for detection of metal ions, drugs, and pesticides/fungicides), gene delivery, and temperature probing.


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