Carbon Quantum Dots and Applications in Photocatalytic Energy Conversion

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 7; no. 16; pp. 8363 - 8376
• Main Authors: Fernando, K. A. Shiral, Sahu, Sushant, Liu, Yamin, Lewis, William K, Guliants, Elena A, Jafariyan, Amirhossein, Wang, Ping, Bunker, Christopher E, Sun, Ya-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 29.04.2015
• Subjects: carbon dioxide; carbon quantum dots; energy conversion; graphene; photocatalysts; semiconductors; quantum dots; carbon dots; graphene quantum dots; CO2 photoreduction; photocatalysts; water-splitting
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b00448

Quantum dots (QDs) generally refer to nanoscale particles of conventional semiconductors that are subject to the quantum-confinement effect, though other nanomaterials of similar optical and redox properties are also named as QDs even in the absence of strictly defined quantum confinement. Among such nanomaterials that have attracted tremendous recent interest are carbon dots, which are small carbon nanoparticles with some form of surface passivation, and graphene quantum dots in various configurations. In this article, we highlight these carbon-based QDs by focusing on their syntheses, on their photoexcited state properties and redox processes, and on their applications as photocatalysts in visible-light carbon dioxide reduction and in water-splitting, as well as on their mechanistic similarities and differences.