Losito Onofrio, Netti Thomas, Kost Veronika, Annese Cosimo, Catucci Lucia, Da Ros Tatiana, De Leo Vincenzo, D'Accolti Lucia
Department of Chemistry, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy.
Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
Materials (Basel). 2025 Apr 18;18(8):1865. doi: 10.3390/ma18081865.
Over the past few decades, awareness has risen substantially about the limitations of non-renewable resources and the environmental challenges facing the chemical industry. This has necessitated a transition toward renewable resources, such as lignocellulosic biomass, which is among the most abundant renewable carbon sources on the planet. Lignocellulosic biomass represents a significant yet often underutilized source of fermentable sugars and lignin, with potential applications across multiple sectors of the chemical industry. The formation of humins (polymeric byproducts with a complex conjugated network, comprising furanic rings and various functional groups, including ketones) occurs inevitably during the hydrothermal processing of lignocellulosic biomass. This study presents the use of humin byproducts derived from soybean peels for the production of fluorescent carbon dots (CDs). A comparison between sonochemical and thermochemical methods was conducted for the synthesis of this nanomaterial. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized in terms of size, morphology (TEM, DLS), and Z-potential. Subsequently, the spectroscopic properties of the prepared CDs were studied using absorption and emission spectroscopy. In particular, the CDs displayed a blue/cyan fluorescence under UV irradiation. The emission properties were found to be dependent on the excitation wavelength, shifting to longer wavelengths as the excitation wavelength increased. The carbon dots that exhibited the most favorable photochemical properties (QY = 2.5%) were those produced through a sonochemical method applied to humins obtained from the dehydration of soybean husks with phosphoric acid and prior treatment.
在过去几十年里，人们对不可再生资源的局限性以及化学工业所面临的环境挑战的认识大幅提高。这就需要向可再生资源转型，比如木质纤维素生物质，它是地球上最丰富的可再生碳源之一。木质纤维素生物质是可发酵糖和木质素的重要来源，但往往未得到充分利用，在化学工业的多个领域都有潜在应用。在木质纤维素生物质的水热加工过程中，不可避免地会形成腐殖质（一种具有复杂共轭网络的聚合副产物，由呋喃环和各种官能团组成，包括酮）。本研究介绍了利用大豆皮衍生的腐殖质副产物来生产荧光碳点（CDs）。对声化学法和热化学法合成这种纳米材料进行了比较。通过尺寸、形态（透射电子显微镜、动态光散射）和Z电位对所得纳米颗粒进行了表征。随后，利用吸收光谱和发射光谱研究了制备的碳点的光谱性质。特别是，这些碳点在紫外线照射下呈现出蓝色/青色荧光。发现发射性质取决于激发波长，随着激发波长增加，发射波长向更长波长移动。表现出最有利光化学性质（量子产率 = 2.5%）的碳点是通过声化学法制备的，该方法应用于用磷酸对大豆壳进行脱水处理并经过预处理后得到的腐殖质。
