Doping fluorescent carbon dots (DFCDs) with heteroatoms have recently become of great interest compared to traditional fluorescent materials because it provides a feasible and new way to tune the intrinsic properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to achieve new applications for them in different fields. Since the first report on nitrogen (N) doped GQDs in 2012, more effort is being focused on exploring different procedures for making new types of DFCDs with different heteroatoms. This mini review will summarize recent research progress on DFCDs. It first reviews various doping categories achieved up to now, looking back on the synthesis method and comparing the differences in synthesis approaches between the DFCDs and the undoped ones. Then it focuses on the advances on how the doping affects the optical properties, especially DFCDs doped with N, which have been investigated the most. Finally, different applications of DFCDs involving bio-imaging, sensing, catalysis and photoelectronic devices will be discussed. This review will give new insights into how to use different synthetic methods for tuning the structure of DFCDs, understanding the correlation between the doping and properties, and achieving new applications.

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