Abstract
Carbon dots (CDs) have potential applications in various fields such as energy, catalysis, and bioimaging due to their strong and tuneable photoluminescence (PL), low toxicity, and robust chemical inertness. Although several PL mechanisms have been proposed, the origin of PL in CDs is still in debate because of the ensembled nature of the heterogeneous luminophores present in the CDs. To unravel the origin of PL in CDs, we performed time-resolved spectroscopy on two types of CDs: nitrogen-doped (N-CD) and boron-nitrogen co-doped (BN-CD). The PL decays were fitted by stretched exponential functions to estimate the distribution of the decay kinetics in the CDs, which have different PL lifetime distributions. Both CDs displayed main, blue emission decaying in 15 ns, which originates from the dominant molecular state. The analysis of the non-exponential PL decay using stretched exponential fits revealed that the functional surface luminophores are of less variety but of more environmental heterogeneity and have much lower populations in BN-CD than in N-CD.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
