Synthesis and characterization of carbon quantum dots by electrochemical method using ethanolamine and ethanol

Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) are a new class of carbon-based nanomaterials that have attracted researcher’s attention because of their photovotaic properties In this work, CQDs were synthesized by the electrochemical method under DC voltage of 60 V, during 8 h using ethanol or ethanolamine as the electrolyte material and the effect of temperature was studied in the range of 25 to 120°C. Synthesized CQDs were characterized by using TEM and FTIR analysis, and, optical properties were investigated by UV-Visible Spectroscopy. The results revealed the absorption edge of synthesized CQDs had red-shifted absorption from 348 to 389 nm using ethanol and ethanolamine respectively, at 70°C synthesis temperature. Application of ethanolamine could produce CQDs doped with nitrogen and the TEM analysis results showed that particles were formed with two different sizes distribution around 5-10 and 20-25 nm. Increasing temperature caused a higher rate of formation and resulted in more absorption edge red-shift of the formed CQDs.

Keywords:

carbon quantum dots , synthesis , electrochemical method , photoluminescence , nanoparticles