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Nano Research 2020, 13(9): 2492-2499 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2884-8
Research Article | Issue | Published: 08 June 2020

Wide emission shifts and high quantum yields of solvatochromic carbon dots with rich pyrrolic nitrogen

Show Author's Information Hua Wang1,  Philip Haydel1,  Ning Sui2,  Lina Wang2,  Yan Liang3( ),  William W. Yu1,2( )
Department of Chemistry and Physics, Louisiana State University, Shreveport, LA 71115, USA
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China
Keywords:
density functional theory (DFT) calculation, quantum yield, carbon dot, solvatochromism, pyrrolic nitrogen
Topics:
CarbonNitrogenPhotoluminescenceQuantum yield
Cite this article:
Wang H, Haydel P, Sui N, et al. Wide emission shifts and high quantum yields of solvatochromic carbon dots with rich pyrrolic nitrogen. Nano Research, 2020, 13(9): 2492-2499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2884-8
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Carbon dots (CDs) with solvatochromic emission colors in different solvents have attracted much attention as a new class of luminescent nanomaterial owing to their facile synthesis and low production cost. In this work, we prepared two kinds of CDs with solvatochromic emissions: green emission CDs (G-CDs) and multicolor emission CDs (M-CDs). G-CDs synthesized from o-phenylenediamine exhibited weak photoluminescence emission (quantum yield 2.8%-6.1%) and 39 nm solvatochromic shifts (492-531 nm). In contrast, M-CDs prepared from o-phenylenediamine and 4-aminophenol showed 87 nm solvatochromic shift range (505-592 nm) and much higher photoluminescence quantum yield (18.4%-32.5%). The two CDs exhibited different emission, absorption, and photoluminescence lifetime. The origin of solvatochromic shifts and the formation mechanism of CDs were demonstrated by analyzing the structures and compositions of two CDs. High percentages of pyrrolic nitrogen and amino nitrogen make wider solvatochromic shifts and higher quantum yields. The results were well supported by density functional theory calculations. This effective strategy to expand solvatochromic shift range and improve quantum yields could open a new window to prepare satisfied solvatochromic carbon dots.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Wide emission shifts and high quantum yields of solvatochromic carbon dots with rich pyrrolic nitrogen

Show Author's information Hua Wang1, Philip Haydel1, Ning Sui2, Lina Wang2, Yan Liang3( ), William W. Yu1,2( )
Department of Chemistry and Physics, Louisiana State University, Shreveport, LA 71115, USA
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) with solvatochromic emission colors in different solvents have attracted much attention as a new class of luminescent nanomaterial owing to their facile synthesis and low production cost. In this work, we prepared two kinds of CDs with solvatochromic emissions: green emission CDs (G-CDs) and multicolor emission CDs (M-CDs). G-CDs synthesized from o-phenylenediamine exhibited weak photoluminescence emission (quantum yield 2.8%-6.1%) and 39 nm solvatochromic shifts (492-531 nm). In contrast, M-CDs prepared from o-phenylenediamine and 4-aminophenol showed 87 nm solvatochromic shift range (505-592 nm) and much higher photoluminescence quantum yield (18.4%-32.5%). The two CDs exhibited different emission, absorption, and photoluminescence lifetime. The origin of solvatochromic shifts and the formation mechanism of CDs were demonstrated by analyzing the structures and compositions of two CDs. High percentages of pyrrolic nitrogen and amino nitrogen make wider solvatochromic shifts and higher quantum yields. The results were well supported by density functional theory calculations. This effective strategy to expand solvatochromic shift range and improve quantum yields could open a new window to prepare satisfied solvatochromic carbon dots.

Keywords: density functional theory (DFT) calculation, quantum yield, carbon dot, solvatochromism, pyrrolic nitrogen

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 22 March 2020
Revised: 15 May 2020
Accepted: 17 May 2020
Published: 08 June 2020
Issue date: September 2020

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the financial supports from the Board or Regent Supporting Fund (BORSF) Endowed Professorship, the Lousiana State University Shreveport (LSUS) R&D Funds, the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Commission (No. 16-5-1-86-jch), and the Scientific Research Foundation of Qingdao University of Science and Technology (QUST) (No. 210/010022914).

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