Research Center, Department of Chemistry, M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology (Autonomous Institute, Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum) Bangalore-560054, Karnataka, India.
Methods Appl Fluoresc. 2021 Jan 11;9(1). doi: 10.1088/2050-6120/abc008.
'Nanocarbon science' ignited interest owing to its substantial scope in biomedicine, energy and environment-beneficial applications. Carbon dots (C-dots), a multi-faceted nanocarbon material, emerged as a homologue to graphene and henceforth geared extensive investigation both on its properties and applications. Eximious properties like excitation-wavelength tunable fluorescence emission, up-converted photoluminescence, photon-induced electron transfer, low cytotoxicity, chiroptical behavior, high chemical and photostability set the ground for astounding applications of carbon dots. Abundant availability of raw 'green' precursors complementary to other molecular/graphitic precursors make them environmentally benign, inexpensive and ultimately 'nanomaterials of the current decade'. This review focuses on the synthesis of carbon dots not only from natural sources but also from other carbonaceous precursors and contemplates the inherent but controversial properties. We also aim to garner the attention of readers to the recent progress achieved by C-dots in one of its prestantious area of applications as nanosensors.
'纳米碳科学'因其在生物医药、能源和环境有益应用方面的巨大潜力而引起了人们的兴趣。碳点（C-dots）是一种多方面的纳米碳材料，是石墨烯的同系物，因此对其性质和应用进行了广泛的研究。激发波长可调谐的荧光发射、上转换光致发光、光诱导电子转移、低细胞毒性、手性光学行为、高化学和光稳定性等优异性能为碳点的惊人应用奠定了基础。丰富的绿色原材料的可用性，与其他分子/石墨前体互补，使它们具有环境友好、廉价、最终成为“当前十年的纳米材料”的特点。本综述不仅关注从天然来源合成碳点，也关注从其他碳质前体制备碳点，并探讨了其固有的但有争议的性质。我们还旨在引起读者对碳点在纳米传感器等其著名应用领域之一的最新进展的关注。
