Hydrothermal synthesis of carbon dots from Irish seaweed and seaweed derivatives Karlijn Hertsig, Yungxiang Liu,Sam O’ Neill,Peter W. Dunne School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, D02 PN40, Ireland Due to the increase in global renewable energy generation and the need for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions we find ourselves in the energy transition of the century wherein the demand for green, sustainable energy materials is rising. Carbon dots are considered a new and green nanomaterial, applicable for energy generation technologies, including photovoltaics. 1, 2 In this research the hydrothermal synthesis of carbond dots from seaweed and seaweed derivatives is explored. 3 The synthesis yielded photoluminescent carbon dots, however without control over photoluminescence behaviour. Increasing complexity of the precursor from simple sugars to complex sugars to seaweed biomass led to consistent photoluminescence behaviour, however less distinct. Typically, absorbance of 270 – 300 nm with emission 400 – 450 nm for excitation 350 nm was measured by UV-vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The carbon dots are unstable in solution resulting in aggregation and shifting/reduction of the absorbance over time; however, the photoluminescence behaviour is not impacted. Column chromatography with acetonitrile and water improved the photoluminescence behaviour by narrowing the emission peak. Lyophilisation made structural characterisation possible, which confirmed the carbon dots are amorphous. While practicing green chemistry, it is concluded the hydrothermal method is a viable method to synthesise quantum and carbon dots as functional nanomaterials to contribute to the development of renewable energy technologies contributing to the energy transition. References 1. J. Liu, R. Li and B. Yang, ACS Cent. Sci. , 2020, 2020 , 2179-2195.
2. J. B. Essner and G. A. Baker, Cite this: Environ. Sci , 2017, 4 , 1216-1216. 3. V. Sharma, P. Tiwari and S. M. Mobin, J. Mater. Chem. B , 2017, 5 , 8904-8904.
P81F
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog