Abstract
Luminescent carbon nanoparticles are a relatively new class of luminescent materials that have attracted the increasing interest of chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers. The present review has a particular focus on the synthesis and luminescent properties of carbon nanoparticles dispersed inside nanostructured silica of different natures: oxidized porous silicon, amorphous thin films, nanopowders, and nanoporous sol–gel-derived ceramics. The correlations of processing conditions with emission/excitation spectral properties, relaxation kinetics, and photoluminescence photodegradation behaviors are analyzed. Following the evolution of the photoluminescence (PL) through the “from-bottom-to-up” synthesis procedure, the transformation of molecular-like ultraviolet emission of organic precursor into visible emission of carbon nanoparticles is demonstrated. At the end of the review, a novel method for the synthesis of luminescent and transparent composites, in form of nanoporous silica filled with luminescent carbon nanodots, is presented. A prototype of white light emitting devices, constructed on the basis of such luminophores and violet light emitting diodes, is demonstrated.
Highlights
Luminescent materials take an important place in many areas of human activity and in daily life, including various optoelectronic devices, artificial lighting, and visualization systems
The present report involves a critical review of the research activity related to the development of luminescent of SiO2 :C nanocomposites in the form of carbon nanodots (CNDs) dispersed in nanostructured silica with high specific surface areas, such as oxidized porous silicon, amorphous thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering, fumed silica nanopowder, and sol–gel-derived nanoporous silica
Several methods for the dispersion of luminescent CNDs in nanostructured silica matrixes were demonstrated in this study
Summary
Luminescent materials take an important place in many areas of human activity and in daily life, including various optoelectronic devices, artificial lighting, and visualization systems. Compared to semiconductor nanoparticles and organic fluorophores, CNDs are not subject to the effect of blinking (fluorescence intermittency) [17,19,25] Due to their relatively high synthesis temperature, CNDs are stable in the temperature range of biomedical experiments and can be stored for a long time at room temperature (without refrigeration). The successful application of CNDs in optoelectronics demands a combination of the following: (1) the synthesis of CNDs with a high QYs and suitable emission/excitation spectra; and (2) the effective dispersion of individual nanoemitters inside of optically transparent solid-state matrices. The present report involves a critical review of the research activity related to the development of luminescent of SiO2 :C nanocomposites in the form of CNDs dispersed in nanostructured silica with high specific surface areas, such as oxidized porous silicon, amorphous thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering, fumed silica nanopowder, and sol–gel-derived nanoporous silica. At the end of the report, an effective method for the formation of a luminescent nanoporous SiO2 :C composite, using a combination of liquid-phase CND synthesis and an optically transparent sol–gel-derived nanoporous SiO2 template, is demonstrated
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