氮-磷共掺杂石墨烯量子点制备及荧光特性

为了制备氮-磷共掺杂石墨烯量子点(N,P-GQDs)以探索其荧光性质的可调性,我们采用水热法以柠檬酸为碳源,六氯三聚磷腈为氮源、磷源,制备出了蓝色光致发光的氮-磷共掺杂石墨烯量子点(N,P-GQDs)。通过一些测试表征可以发现:制备的N,P-GQDs尺寸分布均匀,其横向平均尺寸约4.8 nm,晶格间距为0.24 nm,纵向平均厚度约0.95 nm。在光学性能测试中,观察到N,P-GQDs的荧光发射光谱对激发波长具有强的依赖性,其对可见光表现为较强的吸收性。通过量子产率公式计算得出N,P-GQDs的量子产率为10.4%。所制备出的N,P-GQDs具有优异的抗漂白能力及光学稳定性。通过调节样品的稀释浓度比例对N,P-GQDs的荧光性质的可调性进行研究,发现随着稀释倍数的增加,荧光强度先增加后下降。此外,发现制备的N,P-GQDs对Fe³⁺产生强烈的复合作用,使N,P-GQDs荧光猝灭,由此建立了Fe³⁺的传感分析方法。     

基于石墨烯量子点的荧光探针应用于抗坏血酸检测的研究

基于石墨烯量子点(GQDs)的荧光性能建立了一种非标记荧光方法,用于灵敏和选择性测定抗坏血酸(AA)。GQDs溶液在紫外光激发下发出很强的蓝色荧光,当向溶液中加入AA后,GQDs溶液的荧光被猝灭。猝灭机理可能为在弱酸性介质中,AA与GQDs发生氧化还原反应,AA转移电子给GQDs。荧光猝灭强度与AA浓度在5.0×10~(-6)~7.5×10~(-5)mol/L范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限低至1.0×10~(-6)mol/L。该体系成本低、操作简单,并且在多种可能干扰的物质存在下对AA表现出很高的选择性。本方法应用于生物样品中AA的检测,回收率在95.2%~115.3%之间。     

Noble Metal-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Enhancement from Bandgap-Controlled Graphene Quantum Dots

Graphene quantum dot (GQD) represents an emerging noble metal-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active nanomaterials for applications such as optoelectronics, chemical sensing, and biomedical imaging and therapy. However, it lacks a scalable method to synthesize GQD with selective structures and the fundamental understanding of their SERS enhancement through charge transfer between GQD and probe molecules. Here a bottom–up liquid-phase synthesis of colloidal GQDs with selective bandgaps using atmospheric-pressure microplasmas is reported. Electron microscopic and optical spectroscopic characterizations suggest that highly crystalline GQDs with nanographene structures can be synthesized with ambient conditions using microplasmas. Moreover, the bandgaps of GQDs are tuned from 2.8 to 3.18 eV by controlling the size of organosulfate micelles. Raman spectroscopic study demonstrates that the as-synthesized GQDs exhibit a unique quantum dot bandgap-dependent SERS enhancement property with an improved charge transfer between the GQD and probe molecules. This study provides an insight into the fundamental of semiconductor-enhanced Raman scattering of GQDs and scalable production of structure-controlled GQDs using plasma-activated chemistry.     

ZnO@GQDs核壳结构量子点的制备及性能研究

采用原位聚合法制备了以ZnO量子点为核、石墨烯量子点（GQDs）为壳的ZnO@ GQDs核壳结构量子点。通过TEM和HR-TEM对量子点进行形貌和结构的分析表征。结果表明,合成的ZnO@ GQDs核壳结构量子点为球形,粒径为～7 nm,且尺寸均匀。PL光谱研究表明,新型量子点的发射峰位于369 nm,发光峰窄、强度高;相对于ZnO的本征发射峰,GQDs的引入使得ZnO@GQDs核壳量子点的荧光发射峰出现蓝移、强度变高,从而使复合量子点的荧光具有较纯的色度和较高的强度,说明GQDs的引入具有协同优化效应。该量子点有望应用于LED显示器件。     

ZnO@GQDs核壳结构量子点的制备及性能研究

采用原位聚合法制备了以ZnO量子点为核、石墨烯量子点(GQDs)为壳的ZnO@GQDs核壳结构量子点。通过TEM和HR-TEM对量子点进行形貌和结构的分析表征。结果表明,合成的ZnO@GQDs核壳结构量子点为球形,粒径为~7 nm,且尺寸均匀。PL光谱研究表明,新型量子点的发射峰位于369 nm,发光峰窄、强度高;相对于ZnO的本征发射峰,GQDs的引入使得ZnO@GQDs核壳量子点的荧光发射峰出现蓝移、强度变高,从而使复合量子点的荧光具有较纯的色度和较高的强度,说明GQDs的引入具有协同优化效应。该量子点有望应用于LED显示器件。     

Versatile Graphene Quantum Dots with Tunable Nitrogen Doping

This paper reports a facile fabrication of N‐doped graphene quantum dots (N‐GQDs) showing controllable chemical properties through a hydrothermal treatment. The N‐GQDs have a uniform size of 3.06 ± 0.78 nm and prefer the equilibrium shapes of circle and ellipse due to the minimization of edge free energy. The N/C atomic ratio in N‐GQDs can be precisely tailored in a range from 8.3 at% to 15.8 at% by simply controlling the concentration of N source (ammonium hydroxide). One order of magnitude quantum yield of 34.5% is achieved by N‐GQDs, compared with the N‐free GQDs, as the substitutional N has an essential role in more effective radiative emission. Excessive N dopants in N‐GQDs can lead to photoluminescence quenching, through nonradiative transition back to the ground state. The N‐GQDs are further found to be suitable as photocurrent conversion materials due to benign energy matching with anatase nanofibers, the ultrafast electron injection at their interface, and efficient electron transfer. This work provides an efficient and inspiring approach to engineering both chemical components and physical properties of N‐GQDs, and will therefore promote their basic research and applications in energy conversion.     

Recent Advances in Graphene Quantum Dots for Fluorescence Bioimaging from Cells through Tissues to Animals

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted tremendous attention in recent years. In this review, the recent developments are summarized in the synthesis, edge functionalization, and cyctotoxicity of GQDs, followed by presenting a focused overview on their current applications for in vitro fluorescence imaging in cells and tissues as well as in vivo macroscopic and microscopic imaging in animals. Challenges and opportunities in the development of GQDs for bioimaging are also discussed.     

On the Factors behind the Photocatalytic Activity of Graphene Quantum Dots for Organic Dye Degradation

Graphene quantum dots (GQD) are promising visible-light photocatalysts for organic dye degradation. Besides having improved visible-light activity compared with commercial TiO₂, GQD are versatile photocatalysts as their chemical composition and, consequently, optical properties can be tuned synthetically, with a direct impact on photoactivity. However, there is a lack of systematic comparative studies to benchmark GQD photocatalytic performance and relate it to their intrinsic properties. This is undertaken in this work for three types of GQD, which are prepared using well-established synthetic methods representative of top-down and bottom-up approaches using different precursors. Resulting GQD are similar in size but differ in chemical composition, crystallinity, bandgap (ranging from 2.63 to 3.63 eV) and visible-light absorptivity. Photoactivity measurements under comparable experimental conditions (visible-light illumination) reveal enormous activity differences for rhodamine B (RhB) degradation, with up to tenfold higher degradation yields at the same time for certain GQD types. The enormous influence of intrinsic and tunable GQD factors, like visible-light absorptivity and surface charge, on their photoactivity for the degradation of organic dyes is demonstrated, highlighting the importance of tailoring such parameters for enhanced photocatalytic performance. A plausible mechanism for GQD-catalyzed photodegradation of RhB is also proposed.     

Size‐Dependent Structural and Optical Characteristics of Glucose‐Derived Graphene Quantum Dots

It is of scientific importance to obtain graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with narrow‐size distribution in order to unveil their size‐dependent structural and optical properties, thereby further to explore the energy band diagram of GQDs. Here, a soft‐template microwave‐assisted hydrothermal method to prepare GQDs with diameters less than 5 nm ± 0.55 nm is reported. The size‐dependent photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) decay lifetime and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) of the GQDs are studied systematically. The QY of the GQDs with an average diameter of 2 nm is the highest (15%) among all the samples investigated and the QY decreases with increasing diameter of the GQDs. The size‐dependence of the PL decay lifetime is also observed. The result suggests that spatial confinement effects related to radiative relaxation play an important role in the size‐dependent decay lifetime. A realistic energy band diagram of the GQDs is deduced from the experimental results.     

Graphene Quantum Dots from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon for Bioimaging and Sensing of Fe3+ and Hydrogen Peroxide

An easy approach for large‐scale and low‐cost synthesis of photoluminescent (PL) graphene quantum dots (GQDs) based on the carbonization of commercially available polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) precursors with strong acid and followed by hydrothermal reduction with hydrazine hydrate is reported. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) characterizations indicate that the size and height of GQDs are in the range of 5–10 nm and 0.5–2.5 nm, respectively. PAH, which has more benzene rings, generally forms GQDs with relatively larger size. The GQDs show high water solubility, tunable photoluminescence, low cytotoxicity, and good optical stability, which makes them promising fluorescent probes for cellular imaging. In addition, the fluorescence of GQDs shows a sensitive and selective quenching effect to Fe³⁺ with a detection limit of 5 × 10^?9m . By combination with the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ redox couple, the PL GQDs are able to detect oxidant, using H₂O₂ as an example. This study opens up new opportunities to make full use of GQDs because of their facile availability, cost‐effective productivity, and robust functionality.     

Hydrothermal Preparation of Photoluminescent Graphene Quantum Dots Characterized Excitation‐Independent Emission and its Application as a Bioimaging Reagent

Zero‐dimensional photoluminescent (PL) graphene quantum dots (GQDs) that can be used as the cell‐imaging reagent are prepared by a hydrothermal route using the graphene oxide (GO) as the carbon source. Under the optimized hydrothermal conditions, an initial hydrogen peroxide concentration of 0.5 mg mL^?1 at 180 °C for 120 min, the GO sheets can be cut into nanocrystals with lateral dimensions in the range of 1.5–5.5 nm and an average thickness of around 1.1 nm. The as‐prepared GQDs exhibit an abundance of hydrophilic hydroxy and carboxyl groups and emit bright blue luminescence with up‐conversion properties in a water solution at neutral pH. Most interestingly, they indicate excitation‐independent emission characteristics, and the surface state is demonstrated to have a key role in the PL properties. The fluorescence quantum yield of the GQDs is tested to be around 6.99% using quinine sulfate as a standard. In addition, the as‐prepared GQDs can enter into HeLa cells easily as a fluorescent imaging reagent without any further functionalization, indicating they are aqueous stability, biocompatibility, and promising for potential applications in biolabeling and solution state optoelectronics.