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Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Synthesis of Green Luminescent Carbon Quantum Dots (CQD), and Optical Properties of Blends of the CQD with Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

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Abstract

Carbon quantum dots (CQD) emitting green photoluminescence (PL; emission peak at 500 nm) with satisfactory quantum yield (12.1%) were synthesized by a low-temperature hydrothermal method (90°C for 2 h) with l-ascorbic acid as carbon source and ethanediamine as catalyst. The as-prepared CQD dispersed readily in aqueous media, were of average diameter 6.2 nm, and their PL performance was excitation-independent. The photoluminescence wavelength of the CQD was pH-independent but the photoluminescence intensity was pH-dependent. Films of the composite materials poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the CQD were prepared by spin-coating and characterized by ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrophotometry and fluorescence spectrometry. The results revealed enhanced ultraviolet–visible absorption of the P3HT–CQD film compared with pure P3HT and substantially reduced PL intensity of the blend film. Experimental and theoretical results indicate the feasibility of using the CQD as a new acceptor material in polymeric photovoltaic devices.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21176169), the Shanxi Provincial Key Innovative Research Team in Science and Technology (2012041011), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (2012DFR50460), and the Shanxi Scholarship Council of China (2012-038).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Interface Science and Engineering in Advanced Materials (Taiyuan University of Technology), Ministry of Education, Taiyuan, 030024, China

    Xiaoting Feng, Yongqiang Zhao, Lingpeng Yan,  Yi Zhang, Yuheng He, Yongzhen Yang & Xuguang Liu

  2. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, China

    Xiaoting Feng, Yongqiang Zhao,  Yi Zhang, Yuheng He & Xuguang Liu

  3. Research Center on Advanced Materials Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, China

    Lingpeng Yan & Yongzhen Yang

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  1. Xiaoting Feng
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  2. Yongqiang Zhao
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  3. Lingpeng Yan
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  4. Yi Zhang
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  5. Yuheng He
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Correspondence to Yongzhen Yang or Xuguang Liu.

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Feng, X., Zhao, Y., Yan, L. et al. Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Synthesis of Green Luminescent Carbon Quantum Dots (CQD), and Optical Properties of Blends of the CQD with Poly(3-hexylthiophene). J. Electron. Mater. 44, 3436–3443 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3893-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3893-3

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