Fluorescent carbon 'quantum' dots from thermochemical functionalization of carbon nanoparticles

Fluorescent carbon 'quantum' dots are generally obtained by deliberate chemical functionalization of carbon nanoparticles or by 'one-pot' carbonization processing. For brightly fluorescent carbon dots with optoelectronic polymers, a hybrid approach was developed to use pre-processed and selected carbon nanoparticles as precursor for surface passivation by poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) in one-pot thermochemical processing, thus taking advantage of the more controllable feature from the deliberate functionalization and also the versatility associated with the one-pot synthesis. The PVK-carbon dots were characterized by optical spectroscopy, microscopy, and other techniques. The broad applicability of the hybrid approach is discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.