A facile and one-pot synthesis of fluorescent graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots for bio-imaging applications

As a kind of metal-free polymer, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) has captivated considerable attention. In this work, an efficient one-pot, economical and green pathway was investigated to simultaneously prepare highly fluorescent g-C 3 N 4 quantum dots (g-C 3 N 4 QDs) and ultrathin g-C 3 N 4...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New journal of chemistry 2017, Vol.41 (10), p.3930-3938
Main Authors: Zhan, Yan, Liu, Zhiming, Liu, Qingqing, Huang, Di, Wei, Yan, Hu, Yinchun, Lian, Xiaojie, Hu, Chaofan
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:As a kind of metal-free polymer, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) has captivated considerable attention. In this work, an efficient one-pot, economical and green pathway was investigated to simultaneously prepare highly fluorescent g-C 3 N 4 quantum dots (g-C 3 N 4 QDs) and ultrathin g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets via ethanol-thermal treatment of bulk g-C 3 N 4 in the presence of KOH. The as-obtained g-C 3 N 4 QDs exhibited narrow particle size distribution with an average diameter of 3.3 ± 0.3 nm. Benefiting from these alluring properties, such as excellent water solubility, bright blue fluorescence, favorable stability and good biocompatibility, the g-C 3 N 4 QDs were successfully employed as a brand-new but promising candidate for bioimaging in vitro . Furthermore, this convenient strategy would open a new avenue for the large-scale synthesis of other layered materials.
ISSN:1144-0546
1369-9261
DOI:10.1039/C7NJ00058H