Rhodamine B Dye-Functionalized Hydrophobic Carbon Quantum Dots with Dual Emission for White-Light Organic...

Hydrophobic carbon quantum dots (hbCQDs) with tunable photoluminescence were synthesized via a solvothermal approach and further hybridized with Rhodamine B (RhB) to extend emission into the visible range. The hbCQDs exhibit quasi-spherical morphology with an average particle size of 8 nm and predominantly disordered graphitic structure, as confirmed by TEM and XRD analyses. FTIR and XPS characterizations reveal surface functional groups including C-N, C=O/C-O, and S-H, which govern the photoluminescence properties. Pure hbCQDs display blue emission at 453 nm under excitation, with a quantum yield (QY) of 6.2%. Incorporation of RhB leads to dual-emission behavior: the surface-state emission remains in the blue region, while molecular-state emission from RhB appears in the orange-red region. The 0.2 mL RhB-CQD composite exhibits optimal properties, including a QY of 13% and a production yield of 82%, emitting white light under 365 nm UV excitation. Increasing RhB loading to 0.4 mL results in a shift in emission peaks and a reduced QY (<9%), with weaker orange fluorescence. These findings demonstrate that controlled RhB hybridization effectively tunes the emission spectrum of hbCQDs, offering a simple and reproducible strategy to achieve dual-color and white-light emission. The optimized hbCQDs/RhB composites hold significant potential for applications in hydrophobic media-compatible organic optoelectronics, light-emitting devices, and bioimaging.