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Red-emitting, self-oxidizing carbon dots for the preparation of white LEDs with super-high color rendering index

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Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs), as a kind of carbon nanomaterials, have attracted widespread attention due to their unique structure and excellent optical properties, and they are low-cost, environmentally friendly and biocompatible. However, the development of near-infrared (NIR) emission CDs remains a challenge. In this study, we successfully prepared CDs with a maximum emission of 714 nm using citric acid as the carbon source, thiourea and ammonium fluoride as the dopant source, and N,N-dimethylformamide as the solvent. The quantum yield (QY) is as high as 22.64%. Interestingly, the prepared CDs self-oxidize in the presence of oxygen, resulting in a blue shift of their emission. Therefore, they can be used to prepare white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) without adding other fluorescent substances. Notably, the work presented herein constitutes the first report of WLEDs preparation from single CDs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21905253, 51973200), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018Ma640681, 2019T120632), and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan (202300410372).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Green Catalysis Center, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Xin Yang, Boyang Wang, Yongqiang Zhang & Siyu Lu

  2. State Key Lab of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China

    Laizhi Sui

  3. Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Zhiyong Tang

  4. CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China

    Zhiyong Tang

  5. State Key Lab of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Bai Yang

Authors
  1. Xin Yang
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  2. Laizhi Sui
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  3. Boyang Wang
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  4. Yongqiang Zhang
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  5. Zhiyong Tang
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  6. Bai Yang
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  7. Siyu Lu
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Correspondence to Siyu Lu.

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Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Yang, X., Sui, L., Wang, B. et al. Red-emitting, self-oxidizing carbon dots for the preparation of white LEDs with super-high color rendering index. Sci. China Chem. 64, 1547–1553 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-021-1033-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-021-1033-6

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