Controllable Synthesis of Highly Luminescent Boron Nitride Quantum Dots

Boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs), as a new member of heavy metal-free quantum dots, have aroused great interest in fundamental research and practical application due to their unique physical/chemical properties. However, it is still a challenge to controllably synthesize high-quality BNQDs with high quantum yield (QY), uniform size and strong fluorescent. In this work, BNQDs have been successfully fabricated by the liquid exfoliation and the subsequent solvothermal process with respect to its facileness and easy large scale up. Importantly, BNQDs with high-quality can be controllably obtained by adjusting the synthetic parameters involved in the solvothermal process including filling factor, synthesis temperature, and duration time. Encouragingly, the as-prepared BNQDs possess strong blue luminescence with QY as high as 19.5%, which can be attributed to the synergetic effect of size, surface chemistry and edge defects. In addition, this strategy presented here provides a new reference for the controllable synthesis of other heavy metal-free QDs. Furthermore, the as-prepared BNQDs are non-toxic to cells and exhibit nanosecond-scaled lifetimes, suggesting they have great potential biological and optoelectronic applications.