Abstract
The water-soluble fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are synthesized by utilizing lemon juice as carbon resource via a simple hydrothermal reaction. The obtained CQDs are with an average size of 3.1 nm. They reveal uniform morphology and well-crystalline and can generate bright blue-green light emission under UV or blue light irradiation. We find that the fluorescence from these CQDs is mainly induced by the presence of oxygen-containing groups on the surface and edge of the CQDs. Moreover, we demonstrate that the as-prepared CQDs can be applied to imaging plant cells. This study is related to the fabrication, investigation, and application of newly developed carbon nanostructures.
Highlights
Carbon quantum dot (CQD) is a new class of carbon-based nanomaterial normally with the spatial size less than 20 nm, which was discovered by Xu et al in 2004 [1]
The low magnification transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of the as-prepared samples indicates that CQDs have a uniform dispersity
The production yield (PY) of CQDs can be calculated according to the definition PY = (m/M) × 100%, where m is the mass of the CQDs, and M is the mass of fresh lemon juice
Summary
Carbon quantum dot (CQD) is a new class of carbon-based nanomaterial normally with the spatial size less than 20 nm, which was discovered by Xu et al in 2004 [1]. The fluorescent carbon nanoparticles were fabricated by Sun et al via laser ablation of graphite powder in 2006 [2] and have been named as “carbon quantum dots (CQDs)” since . Compared with traditional semiconductor-based quantum dots, the CQDs can be obtained by low-cost fabrication techniques and have fascinating and important features such as good bio-compatibility, precise biological target, low toxicity, and stronger quantum size effect. The fluorescent CQDs have attracted a tremendous attention [3, 4] due to their excellent structural and optical properties [5].
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