Liu Junjun, Li Rui, Yang Bai
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China.
ACS Cent Sci. 2020 Dec 23;6(12):2179-2195. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01306. Epub 2020 Dec 14.
Carbon dots (CDs), as a new type of carbon-based nanomaterial, have attracted broad research interest for years, because of their diverse physicochemical properties and favorable attributes like good biocompatibility, unique optical properties, low cost, ecofriendliness, abundant functional groups (e.g., amino, hydroxyl, carboxyl), high stability, and electron mobility. In this Outlook, we comprehensively summarize the classification of CDs based on the analysis of their formation mechanism, micro-/nanostructure and property features, and describe their synthetic methods and optical properties including strong absorption, photoluminescence, and phosphorescence. Furthermore, the recent significant advances in diverse applications, including optical (sensor, anticounterfeiting), energy (light-emitting diodes, catalysis, photovoltaics, supercapacitors), and promising biomedicine, are systematically highlighted. Finally, we envisage the key issues to be challenged, future research directions, and perspectives to show a full picture of CDs-based materials.
碳点（CDs）作为一种新型的碳基纳米材料，多年来一直吸引着广泛的研究兴趣，这是由于其具有多样的物理化学性质以及诸如良好的生物相容性、独特的光学性质、低成本、生态友好性、丰富的官能团（如氨基、羟基、羧基）、高稳定性和电子迁移率等优良特性。在本展望中，我们基于对碳点形成机理、微观/纳米结构和性质特征的分析，全面总结了碳点的分类，并描述了其合成方法和光学性质，包括强吸收、光致发光和磷光。此外，还系统地突出了碳点在多种应用领域的近期重大进展，包括光学领域（传感器、防伪）、能源领域（发光二极管、催化、光伏、超级电容器）以及前景广阔的生物医学领域。最后，我们设想了有待挑战的关键问题、未来的研究方向和前景，以全面展现基于碳点的材料。
