title: Facile route to highly photoluminescent carbon nanodots for ion detection, pH sensors and bioimaging.
abstract: Carbon nanodots (CDs) of uniform size were prepared simply by the hydrothermal decomposition of folic acid (FA) precursor at various reaction temperatures. The CDs formed via dehydration of FA at 260 °C contributed the strongest photoluminescence (PL) signal and the highest quantum yield at about 68%, without assistance of any passivation agent. The effects of preparation conditions on PL behavior of CDs have been investigated in detail, and the quantum yield of the CDs was found to be associated strongly with sample crystallinity. Moreover, because the obtained CDs also exhibited high luminescence stability, abundant surface functional groups and good biocompatibility, there are many promising applications in printing ink, ion detection, pH sensors and cell imaging.
authors: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China. yunlu@nju.edu.cn.
authors: Chen
authors: C
authors: Shen
authors: Yupeng
authors: Y
authors: Sun
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Yun
authors: Y
authors: Lu
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007281:Ink; D007477:Ions; D049449:Luminescence; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D010777:Photochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D007477:Ions; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D005492:Folic Acid