Absolute luminescence quantum yield for nanosized carbon particles in water as a function of excitation wavelength

Kirill A Laptinskiy; Sergey A Burikov; Svetlana V Patsaeva; Igor I Vlasov; Olga A Shenderova; Tatiana A Dolenko

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2019.117879

Absolute luminescence quantum yield for nanosized carbon particles in water as a function of excitation wavelength

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2020 Mar 15:229:117879. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2019.117879. Epub 2019 Dec 2.

Authors

Kirill A Laptinskiy¹, Sergey A Burikov², Svetlana V Patsaeva², Igor I Vlasov³, Olga A Shenderova⁴, Tatiana A Dolenko²

Affiliations

¹ Physical Department M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Leninskie Gory 1/2, 119991, Russia; Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Leninskie Gory 1/2, Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: laptinskiy@physics.msu.ru.
² Physical Department M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Leninskie Gory 1/2, 119991, Russia.
³ A. M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
⁴ Adamas Nanotechnologies, Inc., 8100 Brownleigh Dr, Suit 120, Raleigh, NC 27617, USA.

PMID: 31839574
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2019.117879

Abstract

The absolute luminescence quantum yield Q as a function of excitation wavelength λ_ex in a wide spectral range 270-470 nm was measured for the first time for the group of carbon nanoparticles dispersed in water: carbon dots (CD), detonation nanodiamonds (DND), as well as detonation nanodiamonds decorated with carbon dots (CD-DND). The luminescence quantum yield for DND increased after functionalization; the CD-decorated DND demonstrated significantly higher Q values in the UV region of excitation. We found that the quantum yield for CD luminescence is 4-8 times higher than that for CD-DND luminescence, and 20 times higher than that for DND luminescence. Roughly three spectral regions can be distinguished within the Q(λ_ex): below 330 nm, 330-390 nm and 390-470 nm. Conclusions are drawn about the number of chromophores of the studied nanoparticles and transfer of photoexcitation energy in the systems under consideration.

Keywords: Carbon dots; Carbon nanoparticles; Detonation nanodiamonds; Excitation wavelength; Luminescence quantum yield.