Chemiluminescent properties of a fluorescent SiC·SiOx composite

Abstract

Chemiluminescence (CL) happened in chemical reactions, in which electronically excited intermediates or products were obtained and subsequently released energy with emission of light. CL is a useful approach to investigate active radicals involved in one system. In the present work, we first found SiC·SiO_x, a new kind of zero-dimensional silicon-based nanomaterial, owned CL properties in the presence of Ce(IV)–Na₂SO₃. The CL mechanism was further investigated by the CL, ultraviolet-visible light (UV-vis), and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra. Mechanistic investigation indicated SiC·SiO_x increased the generation of singlet oxygen in the Ce(IV)–Na₂SO₃ system and excited SiC·SiO_x could be produced from the combination of hole and electron injected SiC·SiO_x. This opens up an avenue for investigating the CL properties of SiC·SiO_x and promotes their application in various fields.