Highly fluorescent blue and green-emitting carbon dots have been designed to be integrated into solgel processing of hybrid organic-inorganic materials through surface modification with an organosilane, 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). The carbon dots have been synthesised using citric acid and urea as precursors; the intense fluorescence exhibited by the nanoparticles, among the highest reported in the scientific literature, has been stabilised against quenching by APTES. When the modification is carried out in an aqueous solution, it leads to the formation of silica around the C-dots and an increase of luminescence, but also to the formation of large clusters which do not allow the deposition of optically transparent films. On the contrary, when the C-dots are modified in ethanol, the APTES improves the stability in the precursor sol even if any passivating thin silica shell does not form. Hybrid films containing APTES-functionalized C-dots are transparent with no traces of C-dots aggregation and show an intense luminescence in the blue and green range.

Integrating sol-gel and carbon dots chemistry for the fabrication of fluorescent hybrid organic-inorganic films / Mura, Stefania; Ludmerczki, Róbert; Stagi, Luigi; Garroni, Sebastiano; Maria Carbonaro, Carlo; Ricci, Pier Carlo; Francesca Casula, Maria; Malfatti, Luca; Innocenzi, Plinio. - In: OPEN ACCESS SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2332-2675. - 10:(2020), p. 4770. [10.1038/s41598-020-61517-x]

Integrating sol-gel and carbon dots chemistry for the fabrication of fluorescent hybrid organic-inorganic films

Stefania Mura;Luigi Stagi
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
Sebastiano Garroni;Pier Carlo Ricci;Luca Malfatti;Plinio Innocenzi
2020-01-01

Abstract

Highly fluorescent blue and green-emitting carbon dots have been designed to be integrated into solgel processing of hybrid organic-inorganic materials through surface modification with an organosilane, 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). The carbon dots have been synthesised using citric acid and urea as precursors; the intense fluorescence exhibited by the nanoparticles, among the highest reported in the scientific literature, has been stabilised against quenching by APTES. When the modification is carried out in an aqueous solution, it leads to the formation of silica around the C-dots and an increase of luminescence, but also to the formation of large clusters which do not allow the deposition of optically transparent films. On the contrary, when the C-dots are modified in ethanol, the APTES improves the stability in the precursor sol even if any passivating thin silica shell does not form. Hybrid films containing APTES-functionalized C-dots are transparent with no traces of C-dots aggregation and show an intense luminescence in the blue and green range.
2020
Integrating sol-gel and carbon dots chemistry for the fabrication of fluorescent hybrid organic-inorganic films / Mura, Stefania; Ludmerczki, Róbert; Stagi, Luigi; Garroni, Sebastiano; Maria Carbonaro, Carlo; Ricci, Pier Carlo; Francesca Casula, Maria; Malfatti, Luca; Innocenzi, Plinio. - In: OPEN ACCESS SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2332-2675. - 10:(2020), p. 4770. [10.1038/s41598-020-61517-x]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11388/233156
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