Simple Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Amphiphilic Carbon Quantum Dots from A3/B2 Polyamidation Monomer Set

Yujin Choi; Seongho Jo; Ari Chae; Young Kwang Kim; Jeong Eun Park; Donggun Lim; Sung Young Park; Insik In

doi:10.1021/acsami.7b06066

Simple Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Amphiphilic Carbon Quantum Dots from A₃/B₂ Polyamidation Monomer Set

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Aug 23;9(33):27883-27893. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b06066. Epub 2017 Aug 11.

Authors

Yujin Choi¹, Seongho Jo¹, Ari Chae¹, Young Kwang Kim¹, Jeong Eun Park¹, Donggun Lim¹, Sung Young Park¹, Insik In¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of IT Convergence (Brain Korea PLUS 21), ‡Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, §Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and ∥Department of Electronic Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation , Chungju 27909, Republic of Korea.

PMID: 28742324
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b06066

Abstract

Highly fluorescent and amphiphilic carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were prepared by microwave-assisted pyrolysis of citric acid and 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine (TTDDA), which functioned as an A₃ and B₂ polyamidation type monomer set. Gram quantities of fluorescent CQDs were easily obtained within 5 min of microwave heating using a household microwave oven. Because of the dual role of TTDDA, both as a constituting monomer and as a surface passivation agent, TTDDA-based CQDs showed a high fluorescence quantum yield of 29% and amphiphilic solubility in various polar and nonpolar solvents. These properties enable the wide application of TTDDA-based CQDs as nontoxic bioimaging agents, nanofillers for polymer composites, and down-converting layers for enhancing the efficiency of Si solar cells.

Keywords: TTDDA; amphiphilic; bioimaging; carbon quantum dots; microwave-assisted pyrolysis; polymer composites; solar cells.