The facile preparation of solid-state fluorescent carbon dots with a high fluorescence quantum yield and their application in rapid latent fingerprint detection

• Published in: Dalton transactions : an international journal of inorganic chemistry Vol. 5; no. 35; pp. 12188 - 12196
• Main Authors: Wang, Hai-Jiao, Hou, Wan-Yi, Kang, Jing, Zhai, Xin-Yu, Chen, Hong-Li, Hao, Yong-Wei, Wan, Guo-Yun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 14.09.2021
• Subjects: Carbon dots; Fingerprints; Fluorescence; High definition; Latent fingerprints; Solid state
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/d1dt01510a

Because of direct π-π interactions and excessive energy resonance transfer, it is very challenging to prepare carbon dots (CDs) with a high fluorescence quantum yield (QY) in the solid state. In this study, novel CDs which gave solid-state fluorescence (SSF) with high brightness were successfully prepared via a simple microwave-assisted method. The prepared ScCDs can emit strong blue fluorescence in the solid state, and the absolute QY of this ScCDs powder reaches 51.7%. Such a high QY means that the ScCDs powder could be successfully applied in rapid latent fingerprint (LFP) detection. The LFP detection performance of this ScCDs powder was studied in detail, and the results show that the LFPs developed using the ScCDs powder can be visualized with high definition and contrast under different conditions. This research not only developed a new type of SSF-emitting CDs, but it also proved that the developed CDs have great potential for applications in LFP detection, and this research may also provide inspiration and ideas for the design of new SSF-emitting CDs. Novel solid-state fluorescent carbon dot powder with a high PLQY was prepared and successfully applied in rapid latent fingerprint imaging.