Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes
Zhili Peng,
Yiqun Zhou,
Chunyu Ji,
Joel Pardo,
Keenan J. Mintz,
Raja R. Pandey,
Charles C. Chusuei,
Regina M. Graham,
Guiyang Yan,
Roger M. Leblanc
Affiliations
Zhili Peng
National Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Yiqun Zhou
Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Chunyu Ji
National Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Joel Pardo
Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Keenan J. Mintz
Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Raja R. Pandey
Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Charles C. Chusuei
Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Regina M. Graham
Department of Neurological Surgery, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
Guiyang Yan
Key Laboratory of Green Energy and Environment Catalysis (Ningde Normal University), Fujian Province University, Ningde 352100, China
Roger M. Leblanc
Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Carbon dots (C-dots) were facilely fabricated via a hydrothermal method and fully characterized. Our study shows that the as-synthesized C-dots are nontoxic, negatively charged spherical particles (average diameter 4.7 nm) with excellent water dispersion ability. Furthermore, the C-dots have a rich presence of surface functionalities such as hydroxyls and carboxyls as well as amines. The significance of the C-dots as highly efficient photocatalysts for rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) degradation was explored. The C-dots demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activity, achieving 100% of RhB and MB degradation within 170 min. The degradation rate constants for RhB and MB were 1.8 × 10−2 and 2.4 × 10−2 min−1, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation performances of the C-dots are comparable to those metal-based photocatalysts and generally better than previously reported C-dots photocatalysts. Collectively considering the excellent photocatalytic activity toward organic dye degradation, as well as the fact that they are facilely synthesized with no need of further doping, compositing, and tedious purification and separation, the C-dots fabricated in this work are demonstrated to be a promising alternative for pollutant degradation and environment protection.
