KSEF RDE: Synthesis and Spectroscopic Investigation of Fluorescent Carbon Dots

Fluorescent carbon dots (FCDs) have recently received significant attention because of their attractive characteristics chemical inertness, biocompatibility and low toxicity. They are considered as promising materials for photocatalysis, sensing, bio-imaging, and photovoltaic applications. A confined, conjugated, sp2-bonded carbon core surrounded by a shell of chemical functional groups can produce bright, photostable, and tunable photoluminescence. While research is actively being conducted to promote brightness and modulate the optical properties of FCDs produced by a variety of synthetic approaches, there is a significant lack of fundamental knowledge about detailed emission mechanism and energy-transfer pathway. Currently, most of the spectroscopic studies on FCDs have been conducted in ensemble. The detailed information about photophysics and energytransfer channels are largely obscured in ensemble spectroscopic studies due to a chemical and structural inhomogeneity and an ensemble averaging effect. In this proposal, I propose a new spectroscopic approach to research on fluorescent carbon nanodots. Optical properties of FCDs will be investigated at the single-particle level together with ensemble studies. The single-particle fluorescence study will unravel the complexity of the system and thus will allow for the investigation of complicated photophysical and photochemical processes. We will also develop a reliable synthetic route to controlling the size, chemical structure, and surface chemistry of FCNs by means of chemical, electrochemical oxidation/reduction and chemical doping methods.