Full-Color Light-Emitting Carbon Dots with a Surface-State-Controlled Luminescence Mechanism

Carbon dots (CDs) with tunable photoluminescence (PL) and a quantum yield of up to 35% in water were hydrothermally synthesized in one pot and separated via silica column chromatography. These separated CDs emitted bright and stable luminescence in gradient colors from blue to red under a single-wavelength UV light. They exhibited high optical uniformity; that is, every sample showed only one peak in the PL excitation spectrum, only one peak in the excitation-independent PL emission spectrum, and similar monoexponential fluorescence lifetimes. Although these samples had similar distributions of particle size and graphite structure in their carbon cores, the surface state gradually varied among the samples,…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Award: 21271045
• MO
  Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China

  Award: 2013CB934101
• PF
  Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University

  Award: NCET-11-0115