Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Compact Quantum Dots for Single-molecule Imaging
Published on: October 9, 2012
Optical properties of polymer-derived carbon dots
Yongqi Yang1, Deirdre M O'Carroll1,2
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, 123 Bevier Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA. ocarroll@rutgers.edu.
Abstract:
Luminescent carbon dots (CDs), as an emerging material class, have been actively investigated for applications in bioimaging, photocatalysis, and optoelectronic devices. Polymer materials have exhibited great potential as candidates for the preparation of CDs due to the high carbon percentage in their chemical structure and relative abundance. More importantly, chemical upcycling provides an economic approach to process polymer waste. In this article, we review synthetic routes and optical properties of CDs derived from different polymer sources, including polyethylene, polypropylene, mixed polyolefins, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene glycol, polylactide, polyacrylamide and polymers derived from natural resources. Applications based on the luminescent properties of these polymer-derived CDs are also briefly discussed. Though most of the current polymer-derived CDs show inferior photoluminescence quantum yields to those of small-molecule-derived CDs, there are pathways to improve the performance of polymer-derived CDs by adjusting the synthetic conditions and incorporating additives or dopants.
Related Concept Videos
Network Covalent Solids
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy of Conjugated Systems
One of the factors influencing λmax is...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions
IR Absorption Frequency: Hybridization
Among the sp, sp2, and sp3 hybridized orbitals, sp orbitals have the maximum s character (50%). Consequently, the electrons are held more closely to the nucleus, resulting in stronger and shorter C–H bonds that...
Variables Affecting Phosphorescence and Fluorescence
Photoluminescence: Applications

