The formation of a heterostructure with plasmonic nanoparticles drastically alters the optoelectronic properties of graphene quantum dots (GQDs), resulting in exceptional properties. In the present work, we prepare nitrogen-doped GQDs decorated on gold nanoparticles (Au@N-GQDs) by a one-step green reduction method and study its extraordinary fluorescence and photoresponse characteristics. The as-prepared Au@N-GQDs show more than one order of magnitude enhancement in the fluorescence intensity as compared to the bare N-GQDs, which is attributed to hot electron generation and improved absorption in N-GQDs by local field enhancement and the modification of the edge functional groups. Because of the selective coordination to Fe3+ ions, the Au@N-GQDs exhibit extraordinary quenching of fluorescence, with ultrahigh sensitivity for the detection of Fe3+ (<1 nM). A new model for the charge-transfer dynamics is developed involving the Langmuir's law of adsorption to explain the unusual quenching, which strongly deviates from the known models of static/dynamic quenching. The proposed sensor is successfully implemented for the ultrasensitive detection of Fe3+ ions in human serum and Brahmaputra river water samples, representing its high potential applications in clinical as well as environmental diagnosis. Additionally, because of its high absorption in the UV-vis-NIR region and high charge density with long life excitons, the Au@N-GQDs are utilized as photodetectors with ∼104 times faster response than that of bare N-GQDs. The Au@N-GQD-based photodetector possesses a high responsivity of ∼1.36 A/W and a remarkably high external quantum efficiency of ∼292.2%, which is much superior to the GQD-based photodetectors reported till date. The underlying mechanism of ultrafast photoresponse is ascribed to the transfer of hot electrons along with the tunneling of the electrons from Au NPs to N-GQDs as well as the defect reduction of N-GQDs by the incorporation of Au NPs. Without the use of any charge transporting layer, the outstanding performance of N-GQD-based plasmonic photodetector opens up unique opportunities for future high-speed optoelectronic devices.
Keywords: N-doped graphene quantum dots; charge transfer dynamic; nM level Fe3+ sensing in human serum; plasmonic hot electrons; ultrafast photodetector.