Luminescent Carbon Nanodots: Emergent Nanolights

Abstract

Similar to its popular older cousins the fullerene, the carbon nanotube, and graphene, the latest form of nanocarbon, the carbon nanodot, is inspiring intensive research efforts in its own right. These surface-passivated carbonaceous quantum dots, so-called C-dots, combine several favorable attributes of traditional semiconductor-based quantum dots (namely, size- and wavelength-dependent luminescence emission, resistance to photobleaching, ease of bioconjugation) without incurring the burden of intrinsic toxicity or elemental scarcity and without the need for stringent, intricate, tedious, costly, or inefficient preparation steps. C-dots can be produced inexpensively and on a large scale (frequently using a one-step pathway and potentially from biomass waste-derived sources) by many approaches, ranging from simple candle burning to in situ dehydration reactions to laser ablation methods. In this Review, we summarize recent advances in the synthesis and characterization of C-dots. We also speculate on their future and discuss potential developments for their use in energy conversion/storage, bioimaging, drug delivery, sensors, diagnostics, and composites.

Successful entrapment of carbon dots within flexible free-standing transparent mesoporous organic-inorganic silica hybrid films for photonic applications

“…Carbon dots (CDs) is a new class of nanostructured materials that have recently attracted general interest for their unique properties of strong tunable photoluminescence, low cost, low toxicity and biocompatibility [1]. These properties have led to a series of potential applications as in light emitting diodes [2,3], solar cells [4,5], sensing [6], catalysis [7], integration in photovoltaic devices etc.…”

Graphene-Based Nanomaterials in Bioimaging

“…imaging is a non-invasive technique based on photons emitted from fluorescent probes (24,69,70). Based on the intrinsic photoluminescence of nano-graphene oxide (nGO), the Dai group for the first time reported B-cell specific antibody Rituxan (anti-CD20) conjugated and polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified GO (nGO-PEG-Rituxan) for Raji Bcells targeted FL imaging using an InGaAs detector under the 658 nm laser excitation (71).…”

Nanofabrication of Graphene Quantum Dots with High Toxicity Against Malaria Mosquitoes, Plasmodium falciparum and MCF-7 Cancer Cells: Impact on Predation of Non-target Tadpoles, Odonate Nymphs and Mosquito Fishes

“…For these reasons, GQD synthesized by various top-down and bottom-up approaches [2] are presently at the center of research efforts to develop low-toxicity, environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional semiconductor quantum dots [3,4].…”

“…Moreover, GQDs functionalized with various functional groups (e.g. NH 2 , COOH, and CO-N (CH 3 ) 2 ) showed cytotoxicity towards A549 cells [7]. However, it should be mentioned that most of the existing cytotoxicity studies are based on MTT assay, and a systematical cytotoxicity evaluation is necessary for the biocompatibility assessment of GQDs [8].…”