In a paper published in a magazine green chemistry, scientists explain that the synthesis process is simple. We picked birch leaves on the campus in Umeå and cooked them in a pressure cooker. This produced “carbon dots” about 2 nanometers in size that emit a narrow band of deep red light when dissolved in ethanol. Some of the optical properties of these birch leaf carbon dots are comparable to commercially available quantum dots currently used in semiconductor materials, but unlike quantum dots, they do not contain heavy metals or critical raw materials. yeah.
“It is important to note that our method is not limited to birch leaves,” study co-author Jia Wang said in a media statement. “When we tested the leaves of different plants using the same pressure cooking method, they all produced carbon dots that emitted a similar red color. This versatility suggests that the conversion process can be used in a variety of locations. .”
By using carbon dots in a light-emitting electrochemical cell device, the researchers were able to show that the luminance produced was 100 cd/m2, comparable to the intensity of light from a computer screen.
“These results demonstrate that it is possible to shift from depleting petroleum compounds to recycled biomass as raw materials for organic semiconductors,” Wang said.
For researchers, carbon dots have a wide range of potential beyond just light-emitting devices.
“Carbon dots hold promise in a variety of applications, from bioimaging and sensing to anti-counterfeiting. We welcome collaboration and look forward to exploring more exciting applications of these radioactive and sustainable carbon dots.” “We hope to do so,” the scientist said.
