Electrochemical synthesis of phosphorus-doped graphene quantum dots for free radical scavenging

In this work, phosphorus-doped graphene quantum dots (P-GQDs) with a high phosphorus doping content (>7 at%) are synthesized via an electrochemical approach. Sodium phytate (C₆H₆Na₁₂O₂₄P₆), a green food antioxidant additive, is used as the electrolyte for providing both a phosphorus source and an electrolysis environment. The obtained P-GQDs exhibit excellent scavenging activity of free radicals, such as hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Combined with Raman, FT-IR, and XPS spectral analyses, the reason for high phosphorus content and the mechanism of free radical scavenging of P-GQDs are investigated in our work.