Abstract
Multicolor fluorescent hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) are fabricated by an easy one-step route of in situ pyrolysis process with the use of natural scales and collagen powders as the precursor. The gas blow forming mechanism and photoluminescence (PL) emission mechanism of HCSs have been thoroughly discussed and proved that HCSs represent the first examples of three-dimensional multicolor fluorescent nanomaterials based on carbon dots (CDs). The HCSs encapsulate enriched carbon dots with high quantum yields (QYs) of 38%, and thus are applied in inkjet printing and sensitized solar cells. This strategy offers a promising avenue for preparing multicolor fluorescent hollow carbon materials on an industrial scale.
Highlights
We present an alternative facile method for production of hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) with multicolor fluorescence via in situ pyrolysis of fish scales for the first time
The as-prepared carbon dots (CDs) display bright cyan fluorescence under UV lamp (365 nm) and disperse well into organic solvents. This result suggests that the multicolor fluorescent properties of HCSs should be originated from a number of fluorescent CDs distributed onto the surface of HCSs
Collagen powders were employed as the precursor, pressed into tablets, and treated with thermal pyrolysis at 260 °C for 2 h
Summary
We present an alternative facile method for production of HCSs with multicolor fluorescence via in situ pyrolysis of fish scales for the first time. To the best of our knowledge, in situ synthesis of HCSs is rare, and HCSs with versatile fluorescent properties have rarely been reported before. We develop a new avenue for production of multicolor fluorescent HCSs on a large scale via simple pyrolysis method, only using collagen powder tablets as starting materials. Collagen is inexpensive and rich material, which is a main component of fish scales. This method is quite general, allows the formation of HCSs to be carried out in an easy way and on a large scale, and might open up a new route to develop hollow carbon materials
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