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Pressure-induced photoluminescence enhancement and ambient retention in confined carbon dots

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Abstract

Piezochromic luminescent materials have shown great potential in advanced optoelectronic applications. However, most of luminescent materials usually undergo emission quenching under external stimuli. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that the photoluminescence of carbon dots (CDs) confined within sodium hydroxide can be enhanced when high pressure is applied. They exhibit a 1.6-fold fluorescence enhancement compared with pristine CDs. Importantly, the enhanced fluorescence intensity can be retained after the release of pressure to ambient conditions. A combination of experimental analysis and theoretical simulations indicates that such an enhanced emission is mainly attributed to the strong confinement resulting from the sodium hydroxide matrix, which can separate the CDs spatially and restrict the nonradiative pathway. These results provide a rational strategy for manipulating the optical properties of CDs with enhanced and retainable photoluminescence (PL) performance, thus opening up a venue for designing luminescent CDs-based materials.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11804307, 12074348, U2004168, 62027816 and U1804155), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Nos. 2018M630830, 2019T120631 and 2020M682310), and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (Nos. 212300410410 and 212300410078).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Qing Lou, Xigui Yang, Kaikai Liu, Zhongzheng Ding, Jinxu Qin, Yizhe Li, Chaofan Lv, Yuewen Zhang, Zhuangfei Zhang, Jinhao Zang, Lin Dong & Chong-Xin Shan

  2. Supercomputer Center, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Yuan Shang

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  1. Qing Lou
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  2. Xigui Yang
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Correspondence to Xigui Yang, Yuan Shang or Chong-Xin Shan.

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Lou, Q., Yang, X., Liu, K. et al. Pressure-induced photoluminescence enhancement and ambient retention in confined carbon dots. Nano Res. 15, 2545–2551 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3736-x

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