Photoluminescence properties of N-doped carbon dots prepared in different solvents and applications in pH sensing
Source abstract
Abstract
Two kinds of nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were synthesized by choosing citric acid, l-serine and monoethanolamine as the precursors, respectively, in organic solvent N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and deionized water. The FTIR, UV–Vis, HRTEM and XRD were used to characterize the surface molecular structures of these two N-CDs. It was found that different reaction systems made the as-prepared N-CDs possess varied surface states and thus exhibit distinctive photoluminescence features. For the N-CDs prepared in DMF, its fluorescent property showed pH dependent and color-switchable in visible light and could be reversibly changing over in both alkaline and acidic environments due to the protonation and de-protonation of the carboxyl groups on the surface of the N-CDs. Also, its fluorescence intensity exhibited a linear fashion over the pH range from 1.5 to 7.5, indicating its potential applications in pH quantitative detection under acidic condition.
Source: openaire · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Carbon and Quantum Dots Applications · Nanocluster Synthesis and Applications · Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (42)
Show source-provided references
1. Baker SN, Baker GA (2010) Luminescent carbon nanodots: emergent nanolights. Angew Chem Int Ed 49:6726–674410.1002/anie.200906623 ↗
2. Li H, Kang Z, Liu Y, Lee ST (2012) Carbon nanodots: synthesis, properties and applications. J Mater Chem 22:24230–2425310.1039/c2jm34690g ↗
3. Lin YQ, Wang C, Li LB, Wang H, Liu KY, Wang KQ, Li B (2015) Highly photoluminescent nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots and their protective effects against oxidative stress on cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 7:28346–2835210.1021/acsami.5b08945 ↗
4. Zhang SW, Gao HH, Liu X, Huang YS, Xu XJ, Alharbi NS, Hayat T, Li JX (2016) Hybrid 0D–2D nanoheterostructures: in situ growth of amorphous silver silicates dots on g-C3N4 nanosheets for full-spectrum photocatalysis. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 8:35138–3514910.1021/acsami.6b09260 ↗
5. Zhang L, Ding ZC, Tong T, Liu J (2017) Tuning the work functions of graphene quantum dot-modified electrodes for polymer solar cell applications. Nanoscale 9:3524–352910.1039/C7NR00136C ↗
6. Chen H, Wang L, Fu H, Wang ZY, Xie YJ, Zhang ZJ, Tang Y (2016) Gadolinium functionalized carbon dots for fluorescence/magnetic resonance dual-modality imaging of mesenchymal stem cells. J Mater Chem B 4:7472–748010.1039/C6TB01422D ↗
7. Wang CX, Xu ZZ, Zhang C (2015) Polyethyleneimine-functionalized fluorescent carbon dots: water stability, pH sensing, and cellular imaging. ChemNanoMat 1:122–12710.1002/cnma.201500009 ↗
8. Xu Q, Liu Y, Gao C, Wei JF, Zhou HJ, Chen YS, Dong CB, Sreeprasad TS, Li N, Xia ZH (2015) Synthesis, mechanistic investigation, and application of photoluminescent sulfur and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots. J Mater Chem C 3:9885–989310.1039/C5TC01912E ↗
9. Yang Y, Zhang JC, Zhuang J, Wang X (2015) Synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanostructures from polyurethane sponge for bioimaging and catalysis. Nanoscale 7:12284–1229010.1039/C5NR03481G ↗
10. Guo R, Zhou S, Li Y, Li X, Fan L, Nicolas HV (2015) Rhodamine-functionalized graphene quantum dots for detection of Fe3+ in cancer stem cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 7:23958–2396610.1021/acsami.5b06523 ↗
11. Yang ZC, Li X, Wang J (2011) Intrinsically fluorescent nitrogen-containing carbon nanoparticles synthesized by a hydrothermal process. Carbon 49:5207–521210.1016/j.carbon.2011.07.038 ↗
12. Zhou J, Wang C, Qian ZS, Chen CC, Ma JJ, Du GH, Chen JR, Feng H (2012) Highly efficient fluorescent multi-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with diamines and amides. J Mater Chem 22:11912–1191410.1039/c2jm31192e ↗
13. Mirtchev P, Henderson EJ, Soheilnia N, Yip CM, Ozin GA (2012) Solution phase synthesis of carbon quantum dots as sensitizers for nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cells. J Mater Chem 22:1265–126910.1039/C1JM14112K ↗
14. Yuan HY, Li DN, Liu Y, Xu XZ, Xiong CX (2015) Nitrogen-doped carbon dots from plant cytoplasm as selective and sensitive fluorescent probes for detecting p-nitroaniline in both aqueous and soil systems. Analyst 140:1428–143110.1039/C4AN01869A ↗
15. Kong WH, Wu D, Li GL, Chen XF, Gong PW, Sun ZW, Chen G, Xia L, You JM, Wu YN (2017) A facile carbon dots based fluorescent probe for ultrasensitive detection of ascorbic acid in biological fluids via non-oxidation reduction strategy. Talanta 165:677–68410.1016/j.talanta.2017.01.022 ↗
16. Niu XQ, Liu GS, Li LY, Fu Z, Xu H, Cui FL (2015) Green and economical synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon dots from vegetables for sensing and imaging applications. RSC Adv 5:95223–9522910.1039/C5RA17439B ↗
17. Wang XY, Huang DW, Niu CG, Guo LJ, Cui JJ, Hu LY, Zeng GM (2016) An internal reference fluorescent pH sensor with two pH-sensitive fluorophores carrier. Sens Actuators B 234:593–60110.1016/j.snb.2016.05.036 ↗
18. Yang ZY, Qin W, Lam JWY, Chen SJ, Sung HHY, Williams LD, Tang BZ (2013) Fluorescent pH sensor constructed from a heteroatom-containing luminogen with tunable AIE and ICT characteristics. Chem Sci 4:3725–373010.1039/c3sc50648g ↗
19. Liu WJ, Li C, Sun XB, Pan W, Wang JP (2017) Carbon-dot-based ratio metric fluorescent pH sensor for the detections of very weak acids assisted by auxiliary reagents that contribute to the release of protons. Sens Actuators B 244:441–44910.1016/j.snb.2017.01.009 ↗
20. Zhu XX, Jin H, Gao CL, Gui RJ, Wang ZH (2017) Ratiometric, visual, dual-signal fluorescent sensing and imaging of pH/copper ions in real samples based on carbon dots-fluorescein isothiocyanate composites. Talanta 162:65–7110.1016/j.talanta.2016.10.015 ↗
21. Shangguan JF, He DG, He XX, Wang KM, Xu FZ, Liu JQ, Tang JL, Yang X, Huang J (2016) Label-free carbon-dots-based ratiometric fluorescence pH nanoprobes for intracellular pH sensing. Anal Chem 88:7837–784310.1021/acs.analchem.6b01932 ↗
22. Hu YP, Yang J, Tian JW, Yu JS (2015) How do nitrogen-doped carbon dots generate from molecular precursors? An investigation of the formation mechanism and a solution-based large-scale synthesis. J Mater Chem B 3:5608–561410.1039/C5TB01005E ↗
23. Wang Z, Lu YX, Yuan H, Ren ZH, Xu C, Chen J (2015) Microplasma-assisted rapid synthesis of luminescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots and their application in pH sensing and uranium detection. Nanoscale 7:20743–2074810.1039/C5NR05804J ↗
24. Tang LB, Ji RB, Cao XK, Lin JY, Jiang HX, Li XM, Teng KS, Luk CM, Zeng SJ, Hao JH, Lau SP (2012) Deep ultraviolet photoluminescence of water-soluble self-passivated graphene quantum dots. ACS Nano 6:5102–511010.1021/nn300760g ↗
25. Yuan YS, Jiang JZ, Liu SP, Yang JD, Zhang H, Yan JJ, Hu XL (2017) Fluorescent carbon dots for glyphosate determination based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer and logic gate operation. Sens Actuators B 242:545–55310.1016/j.snb.2016.11.050 ↗
26. Li M, Cushing SK, Zhou X, Guo S, Wu N (2012) Fingerprinting photoluminescence of functional groups in graphene oxide. J Mater Chem 22:23374–2337910.1039/c2jm35417a ↗
27. Reckmeier C, Wang Y, Zboril R, Rogach A (2016) Influence of doping and temperature on solvatochromic shifts in optical spectra of carbon dots. J Phys Chem C 120:10591–1060410.1021/acs.jpcc.5b12294 ↗
28. Li L, Wu G, Yang G, Peng J, Zhao J, Zhu J (2013) Focusing on luminescent graphene quantum dots: current status and future perspectives. Nanoscale 5:4015–403910.1039/c3nr33849e ↗
29. Sarkar S, Sudolská M, Dubecký M, Reckmeier CJ, Rogach AL, Zbořil R, Otyepka M (2016) Graphitic nitrogen doping in carbon dots causes red-shifted absorption. J Phys Chem C 120:1303–130810.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10186 ↗
30. Meiling TT, Cywiński PJ, Bald I (2016) White carbon: fluorescent carbon nanoparticles with tunable quantum yield in a reproducible green synthesis. Sci Rep 6:2855710.1038/srep28557 ↗
31. McGuire GE, Schweitzer GK, Carlson TA (1973) Core electron binding energies in some group IIIA VB, and VIB compounds. Inorg Chem 12:2450–245310.1021/ic50128a045 ↗
32. Li XM, Zhang SL, Kulinich SA, Liu YL, Zeng HB (2014) Engineering surface states of carbon dots to achieve controllable luminescence for solid-luminescent composites and sensitive Be2+ detection. Sci Rep 4:497610.1038/srep04976 ↗
33. Liu S, Tian J, Wang L, Zhang Y, Qin X, Luo Y, Asiri AM, Al-Youbi AO, Sun X (2012) Hydrothermal treatment of grass: a low-cost, green route to nitrogen-doped, carbon-rich, photoluminescent polymer nanodots as an effective fluorescent sensing platform for label-free detection of Cu(II) ions. Adv Mater 24:2037–204110.1002/adma.201200164 ↗
34. Xu MH, Xu SS, Yang Z, Shu MJ, He GL, Huang D, Zhang LL, Li L, Cui DX, Zhang YF (2015) Hydrophilic and blue fluorescent N-doped carbon dots from tartaric acid and various alkylol amines under microwave irradiation. Nanoscale 7:15915–1592310.1039/C5NR04209G ↗
35. Shan B, Cho K (2010) Oxygen dissociation on nitrogen-doped single wall nanotube: a first-principles study. Chem Phys Lett 492:131–13610.1016/j.cplett.2010.04.050 ↗
36. Sheng ZH, Shao L, Chen JJ, Bao WJ, Wang FB, Xia XH (2011) Catalyst-free synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene via thermal annealing graphite oxide with melamine and its excellent electrocatalysis. ACS Nano 5:4350–435810.1021/nn103584t ↗
37. Zhu S, Zhang J, Qiao C, Tang S, Li Y, Yuan W, Li B, Tian L, Liu F, Hu R, Gao H, Wei H, Zhang H, Sun H, Yang B (2011) Strongly green-photoluminescent graphene quantum dots for bioimaging applications. Chem Commun 47:6858–686010.1039/c1cc11122a ↗
38. Liu Q, Guo B, Rao Z, Zhang B, Gong JR (2013) Strong two-photon-induced fluorescence from photostable, biocompatible nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots for cellular and deep-tissue imaging. Nano Lett 13:2436–244110.1021/nl400368v ↗
39. Peng J, Gao W, Gupta BK, Liu Z, Aburto RR, Ge LH, Song L, Alemany LB, Zhan XB, Gao GH, Vithayathil SA, Kaipparettu BA, Marti AA, Hayashi T, Zhu JJ, Ajayan PM (2012) Graphene quantum dots derived from carbon fibers. Nano Lett 12:844–84910.1021/nl2038979 ↗
40. Zhong D, Miao H, Yang KC, Yang XM (2016) Carbon dots originated from carnation for fluorescent and colorimetric pH sensing. Mater Lett 166:89–9210.1016/j.matlet.2015.12.061 ↗
41. Choudhury SD, Chethodil JM, Gharat PM, Praseetha PK, Pal H (2017) pH-elicited luminescence functionalities of carbon dots: mechanistic insights. J Phys Chem Lett 8:1389–139510.1021/acs.jpclett.7b00153 ↗
42. Chen JL, Yan XP (2011) Ionic strength and pH reversible response of visible and near-infrared fluorescence of graphene oxide nanosheets for monitoring the extracellular pH. Chem Commun 47:3135–313710.1039/c0cc03999c ↗