Speaker
Description
Carbon dots (CDs) are photoluminescent nanomaterials with a broad application potential including nanosensors, cellular bioimaging, and optoelectronics. Besides the bright photoluminescence (PL), they manifest high (photo)stability, low toxicity, biocompatibility, and high structural variability. CDs can be described as two-domain structures containing a graphitic-like or amorphous carbon core and a surrounding shell which may also contain other light elements such as oxygen and nitrogen, included as local dopants and/or functional groups. In addition, molecular fluorophores as remnants of reaction precursors can be attached and/or embedded in CDs. The origins of the PL of CDs featuring both excitation-dependent and excitation-independent components are still under intense debate, mostly due to the complex structure and the variability of the PL centers of CDs [1,2]. In our recent works [3-5], we used classical MD simulations and QM methods to describe the structural features and absorption/emission characteristics of CDs providing useful insights into the dynamics, structural organization and interplay of PL centers of CDs in solution.
[1] M. Langer et al., Appl. Mat. Today 22, 100924 (2021).
[2] F. Mocci et al., Chem. Rev. 122, 13709 (2022).
[3] F. Siddique et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 124, 14327 (2020).
[4] M. Langer et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 125, 12140 (2021).
[5] M. Langer et al., Nanoscale 15, 4022 (2023).
