Fluorescent carbon ‘quantum’ dots from thermochemical functionalization of carbon nanoparticles

• Published in: Chemical physics letters Vol. 639; pp. 109 - 113
• Main Authors: Rednic, Monica I., Lu, Zhuomin, Wang, Ping, LeCroy, Gregory E., Yang, Fan, Liu, Yun, Qian, Haijun, Terec, Anamaria, Veca, L. Monica, Lu, Fushen, Sun, Ya-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 16.10.2015
• ISSN: 0009-2614; 1873-4448
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2015.08.069

•A new versatile and efficient way to synthesize carbon dots.•Carbon dots readily coupled with polymers commonly used in optoelectronics.•Optoelectronic polymer–carbon dot films without unwanted agents or impurities.•Excellent optical properties of carbon dots preserved in polymeric matrices. Fluorescent carbon ‘quantum’ dots are generally obtained by deliberate chemical functionalization of carbon nanoparticles or by ‘one-pot’ carbonization processing. For brightly fluorescent carbon dots with optoelectronic polymers, a hybrid approach was developed to use pre-processed and selected carbon nanoparticles as precursor for surface passivation by poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) in one-pot thermochemical processing, thus taking advantage of the more controllable feature from the deliberate functionalization and also the versatility associated with the one-pot synthesis. The PVK-carbon dots were characterized by optical spectroscopy, microscopy, and other techniques. The broad applicability of the hybrid approach is discussed.