Highly efficient electrochemiluminescence of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots

Xiaoli Qin; Congyang Zhang; Zackry Whitworth; Ziying Zhan; Kenneth Chu; Ping Hu; Sara Jahanghiri; Jigang Zhou; Jinxing Chen; Qiao Zhang; Zhifeng Ding

Advanced Sensor and Energy Materials (Sep 2023)

Highly efficient electrochemiluminescence of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots

Xiaoli Qin,
Congyang Zhang,
Zackry Whitworth,
Ziying Zhan,
Kenneth Chu,
Ping Hu,
Sara Jahanghiri,
Jigang Zhou,
Jinxing Chen,
Qiao Zhang,
Zhifeng Ding

Affiliations

Xiaoli Qin: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; College of Chemistry and Material Science, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Congyang Zhang: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Joint International Research Laboratory of Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Zackry Whitworth: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Ziying Zhan: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Kenneth Chu: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Ping Hu: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Joint International Research Laboratory of Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Sara Jahanghiri: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Jigang Zhou: Canadian Light Source Inc., University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3, Canada
Jinxing Chen: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Joint International Research Laboratory of Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; Corresponding authors.
Qiao Zhang: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Joint International Research Laboratory of Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; Corresponding authors.
Zhifeng Ding: Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Corresponding authors.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 2, no. 3
p. 100062

Abstract

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Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) are nanocomposites that can be synthesized by the hydrothermal method. In this work, N-CQDs with the size of 3.2 ± 1.7 nm was prepared from 1 g citric acid and 2 g urea precursor in 10 mL water. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of the prepared N-CQDs with K2S2O8 as a coreactant was found to reach a high ECL efficiency up to 109% relative to that of the Ru(bpy)32+/K2S2O8, coreactant system, revealing their great potential for electroanalysis. It is probably because that N elements were doped well in this N-CQDs and increased presence of surface states per mass of N-CQDs. From the spooling ECL spectroscopy, it can be found that the ECL spectra exhibited both a red shift compared with their photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and a wavelength shift during the potentiodynamic scan in the ECL evolution and devolution processes, due to various emissive excited states of N-CQDs leading to higher ECL efficiency. This work gives an insight into development of high ECL efficiency N-CQDs for bioanalytical and light emitting applications.

Published in Advanced Sensor and Energy Materials

ISSN: 2773-045X (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Technology: Mechanical engineering and machinery: Renewable energy sources; Technology: Chemical technology; Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Production of electric energy or power. Powerplants. Central stations
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/advanced-sensor-and-energy-materials

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