Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics and Molecular Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China.
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
Small. 2021 Nov;17(44):e2103623. doi: 10.1002/smll.202103623. Epub 2021 Sep 21.
Carbon dots (CDs) are widely studied for years due to their unique luminescent properties and potential applications in many fields. However, aggregation-caused quenching, monotonous emission modes, and unsustainable preparation impose restrictions on their performance and practical applications. Here, this work reports the facile synthesis of sustainable silk-derived multimode emitting CDs with dispersed-state fluorescence (DSF), aggregation-induced fluorescence (AIF), and aggregation-induced room temperature phosphorescence (AIRTP) through radiating sericin proteins in a household microwave oven (800 W, 2.5 min). The structure, luminescent properties, and the mechanism are investigated and discussed. The sericin-derived CDs have graphitized cores and heteroatom-cluster-rich surfaces. The DSF corresponds to the graphitized cores and the AIF origins from the aggregation-induced abundant orbital energy levels on the heteroatom-cluster-rich surfaces. The presence of abundant hydrogen bonds and small gap between the lowest singlet and triplet excited states induces AIRTP. Finally, based on the unique multimode emission of the prepared CDs, their applications in high-performance white-light-emitting diode, information encryption, anti-counterfeiting, and visual humidity sensors are demonstrated.
碳点（CDs）由于其独特的发光特性以及在许多领域的潜在应用而被广泛研究。然而，聚集引起的猝灭、单调的发射模式和不可持续的制备方法限制了它们的性能和实际应用。在这项工作中，我们通过在家庭微波炉（800 W，2.5 分钟）中辐照丝胶蛋白，简便地合成了具有分散态荧光（DSF）、聚集诱导荧光（AIF）和聚集诱导室温磷光（AIRTP）的可持续的丝素衍生多模发射碳点。研究并讨论了其结构、发光性质和机制。丝胶衍生的碳点具有石墨化核和富杂原子团簇的表面。DSF 对应于石墨化核，AIF 源于富杂原子团簇表面上聚集诱导的丰富轨道能级。丰富的氢键和最低单线态和三线态激发态之间的小能隙导致了 AIRTP。最后，基于所制备的碳点的独特多模发射，展示了它们在高性能白光发光二极管、信息加密、防伪和可视化湿度传感器中的应用。
