Abstract
Fluorescent carbon nanodots (CDs) have been highlighted as promising semiconducting materials due to their outstanding chemical and optical properties. However, the intrinsic heterogeneity of CDs has impeded a clear understanding of the mechanisms behind their photophysical properties. In this study, as-prepared CDs are fractionated via chromatography to reduce their structural and chemical heterogeneity and analyzed through ensemble and single-particle spectroscopies. Many single particles reveal fluorescence intensity fluctuations between two or more discrete levels with bi-exponential decays. While the intrinsic τ1 components are uniform among single particles, the τ2 components from molecule-like emissions spans a wider range of lifetimes, reflecting the inhomogeneity of the surface states. Furthermore, it is concluded that the relative population and chemical states of surface functional groups in CDs have a significant impact on emissive states, brightness, blinking, stability, and lifetime distribution of photoluminescence.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4155-4164 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Chemistry - An Asian Journal |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 24 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 13 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by Samsung GRO project and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF‐2017M3A7B4052802 and NRF‐2018R1 A5 A1025208)
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH
Keywords
- Carbon nanodots
- Column chromatography
- Photoluminescence
- Single-particle spectroscopy
- Surface functional groups
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Organic Chemistry