Citric Acid Derived Carbon Dots, the Challenge of Understanding the Synthesis-Structure Relationship
Laboratory of Materials Science and Nanotechnology (LMNT), Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, CR-INSTM, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy
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C 2021, 7(1), 2; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/c7010002
Received: 2 December 2020
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Revised: 16 December 2020
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Accepted: 17 December 2020
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Published: 22 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Graphene and Carbon Quantum Dots, and Related 2D Quantum Dots)
Carbon dots (CDs) are highly-emissive nanoparticles obtained through fast and cheap syntheses. The understanding of CDs’ luminescence, however, is still far from being comprehensive. The intense photoluminescence can have different origins: molecular mechanisms, oxidation of polyaromatic graphene-like layers, and core-shell interactions of carbonaceous nanoparticles. The citric acid (CA) is one of the most common precursors for CD preparation because of its high biocompatibility, and this review is mainly focused on CA-based CDs. The different parameters that control the synthesis, such as the temperature, the reaction time, and the choice of solvents, were critically described. Particular attention was devoted to the CDs’ optical properties, such as tunable emission and quantum yields, in light of functional applications. The survey of the literature allowed correlating the preparation methods with the structures and the properties of CA-based CDs. Some basic rules to fabricate highly luminescent nanoparticles were selected by the metanalysis of the current literature in the field. In some cases, these findings can be generalized to other types of CDs prepared via liquid phase.
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Keywords:
carbon dots; citric acid; nanoparticles; photoluminescence
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MDPI and ACS Style
Ren, J.; Malfatti, L.; Innocenzi, P. Citric Acid Derived Carbon Dots, the Challenge of Understanding the Synthesis-Structure Relationship. C 2021, 7, 2. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/c7010002
AMA Style
Ren J, Malfatti L, Innocenzi P. Citric Acid Derived Carbon Dots, the Challenge of Understanding the Synthesis-Structure Relationship. C. 2021; 7(1):2. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/c7010002
Chicago/Turabian StyleRen, Junkai, Luca Malfatti, and Plinio Innocenzi. 2021. "Citric Acid Derived Carbon Dots, the Challenge of Understanding the Synthesis-Structure Relationship" C 7, no. 1: 2. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/c7010002
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