Current progress in carbon dots: synthesis, properties and applications
Bai
Yang
a,
Raz
Jelinek
b and
Zhenhui
Kang
c
aState Key Lab of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, P. R. China. E-mail: byangchem@jlu.edu.cn
bIlse Katz Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, 84105, Israel. E-mail: razj@bgu.ac.il
cThe Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and the Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, P. R. China. E-mail: zhkang@suda.edu.cn
 Bai Yang | Bai Yang is currently a Professor of Chemistry at Jilin University. His current research interests focus on optical and photoelectronic materials based on polymer nanohybrids and carbon dots, especially carbonized polymer dots. |
 Raz Jelinek | Raz Jelinek is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. His current research focuses on self-assembled functional materials and carbon dots for biological applications. |
 Zhenhui Kang | Zhenhui Kang is currently a professor at Soochow University. His main research interests are in the fields of the synthesis and surface chemistry of carbon dots, as well as exploring their applications in nanocatalysis, new energy and biology. |
Carbon dots (C-dots) were first reported and recognized as a new class of luminescent nanomaterials in 2004. In recent years, developed-dots have attracted tremendous research interest in light of their unique properties, including superior fluorescence, physiological stability, pH sensitivity, biocompatibility, low toxicity and mass production. In that regard, C-dots have been utilized in energy-related devices, composite materials, and environmental and biological applications. There are, however, certain unresolved challenges, such as the control of the exact type of chemical groups on the C-dots’ surface. Varied research directions focused on characterization and analysis are currently being pursued, in addition to the pursuit of material synthesis and better performance. The intensive activity in this field will likely continue to attract researchers from different disciplines and contribute to the wider scientific community. Overall, this themed article collection aims to introduce C-dots and discuss current progress in the field. We hope that the articles will provide a comprehensive overview of C-dots, focusing on the following key points: classification and definition, structure design for tuning specific properties, photoluminescence mechanism and applications, as well as future directions. In addition, a few research groups will share their perspectives on critical issues and possible solutions. We expect that this article collection will be of interest to researchers in the fields of chemistry, physics, electronics, biology, and materials science. We hope that readers will enjoy reading the articles in the themed collection on carbon dots and gain inspiration. Finally, we want to express our deep appreciation for all the contributors for their important contributions to make this themed collection more excellent.
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