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Kosolapova KD, Koroleva AV, Arefina IA, Miruschenko MD, Cherevkov SA, Spiridonov IG, Zhizhin EV, Ushakova EV, Rogach AL. Energy-level engineering of carbon dots through a post-synthetic treatment with acids and amines. Nanoscale 2023; 15:8845-8853. [PMID: 37114916 DOI: 10.1039/d3nr00377a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Chemically synthesized carbon dots (CDs) have attracted a lot of attention as an eco-friendly and cost-efficient light-emitting material, and functionalization of CD surfaces with additives of different natures is a useful way to control their properties. In this study, we show how a post-synthetic treatment of CDs with citric acid, benzoic acid, urea and o-phenylenediamine changes their chemical composition and optical properties. In particular, it results in the formation of carboxyl/imide/carbonyl groups at the CD surface, leading to the appearance of additional blue (or for CDs treated with phenylenediamine, blue and green) emissive optical centers on top of the remaining emission from the original CDs. Most importantly, the increased oxidation degree alongside a decreased relative amount of carbon and nitrogen in such treated CDs decreases their highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level by up to 0.9 eV (the maximal value was observed for CDs treated with o-phenylenediamine). Moreover, the Fermi energy level shifted above the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level for some of the treated CD samples. Thus, the energy structure of CDs can be tuned and optimized for further applications through the functionalization of their surface with organic additives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kseniia D Kosolapova
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Aleksandra V Koroleva
- Research Park, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya emb. 7-9, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Irina A Arefina
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Mikhail D Miruschenko
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Sergei A Cherevkov
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Igor G Spiridonov
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Evgeniy V Zhizhin
- Research Park, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya emb. 7-9, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena V Ushakova
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Andrey L Rogach
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Centre for Functional Photonics (CFP), City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.
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Vedernikova AA, Miruschenko MD, Arefina IA, Babaev AA, Stepanidenko EA, Cherevkov SA, Spiridonov IG, Danilov DV, Koroleva AV, Zhizhin EV, Ushakova EV. Dual-Purpose Sensing Nanoprobe Based on Carbon Dots from o-Phenylenediamine: pH and Solvent Polarity Measurement. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2022; 12:nano12193314. [PMID: 36234443 PMCID: PMC9565920 DOI: 10.3390/nano12193314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 09/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Today, the development of nanomaterials with sensing properties attracts much scientific interest because of the demand for low-cost nontoxic colloidal nanoprobes with high sensitivity and selectivity for various biomedical and environment-related applications. Carbon dots (CDs) are promising candidates for these applications as they demonstrate unique optical properties with intense emissions, biocompatibility, and ease of fabrication. Herein, we developed synthesis protocols to obtain CDs based on o-phenylenediamine with a variety of optical responses depending on additional precursors and changes in the reaction media. The obtained CDs are N-doped (N,S-doped in case of thiourea addition) less than 10 nm spherical particles with emissions observed in the 300−600 nm spectral region depending on their chemical composition. These CDs may act simultaneously as absorptive/fluorescent sensing probes for solvent polarity with ∆S/∆ENT up to 85, for ∆ENT from 0.099 to 1.0 and for pH values in the range of 3.0−8.0, thus opening an opportunity to check the pH in non-pure water or a mixture of solvents. Moreover, CDs preserve their optical properties when embedded in cellulose strips that can be used as sensing probes for fast and easy pH checks. We believe that the resulting dual-purpose sensing nano probes based on CDs will have high demand in various sensing applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna A. Vedernikova
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Mikhail D. Miruschenko
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Irina A. Arefina
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Anton A. Babaev
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Evgeniia A. Stepanidenko
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Sergei A. Cherevkov
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Igor G. Spiridonov
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Denis V. Danilov
- Research Park, Saint Petersburg State University, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | | | - Evgeniy V. Zhizhin
- Research Park, Saint Petersburg State University, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena V. Ushakova
- International Research and Education Centre for Physics of Nanostructures, ITMO University, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Correspondence:
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