Extra Form
Journal |
Nanoscale Advances |
Author |
Hyeong Seop Shim, Jun Myung Kim, Seonghyun Jeong, Youngwon Ju, Sung Jae Won, Jeongyun Choi, Sangwon Nam, Aniruddha Molla, Joohoon Kim* and Jae Kyu Song* |
Citation |
Nanoscale Adv., 2022,4, 1351-1358 |
DOI |
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1NA00811K |
Three types of carbon dots (CDs) are synthesized from isomers of phenylenediamine to develop multicolor
nanomaterials with low toxicity, high stability, and high quantum yield. The distinctive electronic structures
of CDs lead to the characteristic optical transitions, such as three colors of blue, green, and red, which are
primarily attributed to the difference in configurations, despite the similar basic structures of conjugated
systems. The excitation-independent emission and the single exponential decay of CDs indicate the
single chromophore-like nature in each type of CD. In addition, the two-photon luminescence of CDs
exhibits a comparable shape and time profile to the typical photoluminescence with high photostability.
Although the surface-related defect states are observed by intragap excitation, the contribution of defect
states is barely observed in the emission profile upon band gap excitation. Consequently, the
controllability of optical transitions in CDs enhances the potential of tunable multicolor nanomaterials for
various applications as alternatives to quantum dots containing toxic elements.