Green Synthesis of Value-Added Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Sugarcane Bagasse and Their Antioxidant, Reducing and Catalytic Activities

• Published in: Sugar tech : an international journal of sugar crops & related industries 2024-02, Vol.26 (1), p.33-44
• Main Authors: Parveen, Shehla, Bukhari, Naeema, Ramzan, Noreen, Musaddiq, Sara, Mubarak, Shamroza, Kalsoom, Ambreen, Qureshi, Waseem Akhtar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption spectra; Agricultural wastes; Agriculture; Antioxidants; Bagasse; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbon; Electron microscopes; Fluorescence; Fourier transforms; Gallic acid; Infrared spectroscopy; Life Sciences; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology; Photoluminescence; Pollutant removal; Research Article; Scanning electron microscopy; Scavenging; Spectrum analysis; Sugarcane; Synthesis; X ray spectra
• ISSN: 0972-1525; 0974-0740
• DOI: 10.1007/s12355-023-01317-5

Development of value-added nanomaterials from agrowaste biomass is a promising strategy to overcome environmental issues caused by them as are mostly discarded or incinerated. Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is a major residue of agro-industries and possesses the abundant resource of carbon. Herein, different types of highly photoluminescent carbon-dots sc-CDs (1–3) were synthesized from agrowaste biomass SCB by ecofriendly one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized sc-CDs showed green fluorescence around 457 nm with the excitation wavelength ( λ ex ) in the range of 340–420 nm with absolute quantum yield of 12.31%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy exhibited characteristics absorption bands for C–H, O–H, and COOH. Scanning electron microscope showed sc-CDs morphologically spherical and mono-dispersed. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectra showed the presence of carbon (51.58%) and oxygen (34.15%) in sc-CDs. X-ray diffractions analysis demonstrated two intense peaks centered at 28.35˚ and 40.55˚, which confirmed the crystallinity along with average size of 32 nm. Moreover, obtained sc-CDs exhibited significant scavenging activity using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay with EC 50 values of 2.8, 2.7 and 3.9 µg/ml for sc-CDs (1–3), respectively. The maximum total reducing capability was calculated to be 4.9 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE/g) for sc-CDs-2 using Folin–Ciocalteu assay. Additionally, sc-CDs- 2 enhanced the catalytic performances of sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) for complete degradation of methylene-blue dye within 12 min and rate constant was also determined. In conclusion, sc-CDs (1–3) could be used as value-added nanomaterials, antioxidants and as probing agents in biomedical sciences as well as for removal of organic pollutants.