Comprehensive Review on Hydrophobic Carbon Dots and their Multifunctional Applications

Abstract

The Hydrophobic carbon dots (HCDs) have been developed as a novel class of functional nanomaterials that integrate surface hydrophobicity with remarkable optical tunability and chemical stability. These nanostructures exhibit remarkable physicochemical, photophysical and biocompatible properties, making them promising candidates for optical electronics, anticounterfeiting dual encryption, latent fingerprint detection, bioimaging, sensing and oil water separation applications, etc. This review critically consolidates various preparation methods, fundamentals of hydrophobicity, brief insight into fluorescence mechanism into HCDs. Overall, the review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of HCDs, highlighting the challenges and future opportunities for translating their unique hydrophobicity character into practical performance and technologies.