Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots with Photoactivation Properties for Ultraviolet Ray Detection

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 16; no. 32; pp. 42632 - 42640
• Main Authors: Liao, Linhong, Qi, Junchao, Gao, Jie, Qu, Xiaowei, Hu, Zhiyuan, Fu, Boyi, Wu, Fengshou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 14-08-2024
• Subjects: Functional Nanostructured Materials (including low-D carbon); photoactivation; photoresponsive application; converse photobleaching; carbon quantum dots; ultraviolet ray detection
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c07741

Photoactivation is a phenomenon that could enhance the photoluminescence (PL) and photostability upon UV/vis light exposure, which is usually observed in CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). However, the photoactivation phenomenon has been scarcely reported in fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs). Herein, the nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) were prepared through a facile solvothermal approach with naphthalene­tracarboxylic dianhydride and serine as precursors. Upon simple UV light irradiation for 10 min, the fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of N-CQDs could increase up to 10-fold. Based on this phenomenon, the N-CQDs were explored as an ultraviolet (UV) light sensor to assess the intensity of ultraviolet radiation in sunlight and indirectly evaluate the UV-blocking efficiency of various sunscreen products. Thus, this contribution not only provided an insight into developing a low-cost UV detector but also opened a door for the development of carbon quantum dots with converse-photobleaching properties.