Strongly Nonlinear Dependence of Energy Transfer Rate on sp² Carbon Content in Reduced Graphene Oxide-Quantum Dot Hybrid Structures

The dependence of the energy transfer rate on the content of sp(2)-hybridized carbon atoms in the hybrid structures of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and Mn-doped quantum dot (QD(Mn)) was investigated. Taking advantage of the sensitivity of QD(Mn)'s dopant luminescence lifetime only to the energy transfer process without interference from the charge transfer process, the correlation between the sp(2) carbon content in RGO and the rate of energy transfer from QD(Mn) to RGO was obtained. The rate of energy transfer showed a strongly superlinear increase with increasing sp(2) carbon content in RGO, suggesting the possible cooperative behavior of sp(2) carbon domains in the energy transfer process as the sp(2) carbon content increases.