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Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Exploring the Radical Nature of a Carbon Surface by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and a Calibrated Gas Flow
Published on: April 24, 2014
Synthesis and Characterization of Green Carbon Dots for Scavenging Radical Oxygen Species in Aqueous and Oil Samples
Clarissa Murru1, Rosana Badía-Laíño1, Marta Elena Díaz-García1
1Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
Abstract:
Carbon dots (CDs) due to their unique optical features, chemical stability and low environmental hazard are applied in different fields such as metal ion sensing, photo-catalysis, bio-imaging and tribology, among others. The aims of the present research were to obtain CDs from vegetable wastes (tea and grapes) as carbon sources and to explore their potential properties as radical scavengers. CDs from glutathione/citric acid (GCDs) were synthetized for comparison purposes. The CDs were investigated for their chemical structure, morphology, optical and electronical properties. The antioxidant activity has been explored by DPPH and Folin-Ciocelteau assays in aqueous media. Due to their solubility in oil, the CDs prepared from tea wastes and GCDs were assayed as antioxidants in a mineral oil lubricant by potentiometric determination of the peroxide value. CDs from tea wastes and GCDs exhibited good antioxidant properties both in aqueous and oil media. Possible mechanisms, such as C-addition to double bonds, H-abstraction and SOMO-CDs conduction band interaction, were proposed for the CDs radical scavenging activity. CDs from natural sources open new application pathways as antioxidant green additives.
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