Solvatochromism as a Novel Tool to Enumerate the Optical and Luminescence Properties of Plastic Waste Derived Carbon Nanodots and Their Activated Counterparts

Savita Chaudhary; Manisha Kumari; Pooja Chauhan; Ganga Ram Chaudhary; Ahmad Umar; Sheikh Akbar; Sotirios Baskoutas

doi:10.3390/nano13081398

Solvatochromism as a Novel Tool to Enumerate the Optical and Luminescence Properties of Plastic Waste Derived Carbon Nanodots and Their Activated Counterparts

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2023 Apr 18;13(8):1398. doi: 10.3390/nano13081398.

Authors

Savita Chaudhary¹, Manisha Kumari¹, Pooja Chauhan¹, Ganga Ram Chaudhary¹, Ahmad Umar^{2

3

4}, Sheikh Akbar⁴, Sotirios Baskoutas⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Centre of Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India.
² Centre for Scientific and Engineering Research, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Arts, and Promising Centre for Sensors and Electronic Devices (PCSED), Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁵ Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece.

Abstract

Herein, we have developed a one-pot methodology to synthesise three types of C-dots and their activated counterparts from three different types of waste plastic precursors such as poly-bags, cups and bottles. The optical studies have shown the significant change in the absorption edge in case of C-dots in comparison to their activated counterparts. The respective variation in the sizes is correlated with the change in electronic band gap values of formed particles. The changes in the luminescence behaviour are also correlated with transitions from the edge of the core of formed particles. The obtained variations in the Stokes shift values of C-dots, and their ACs were used to explore the types of surface states and their related transitions in particles. The mode of interaction between C-dots and their ACs was also determined using solvent-dependent fluorescence spectroscopy. This detailed investigation could provide significant insight on the emission behaviour and the potential usage of formed particles as an effective fluorescent probe in sensing applications.

Keywords: activated carbon; carbon dots; excitation emission; stoke shift; transition state.

Grants and funding

The research was funded by Haryana State Council for Science and Technology, Panchkula for financial support under HSCSIT/R&D/2020/476. DST Inspire Faculty award [IFACH-17], DST Chandigarh [S&T&RE/RP/147/e-2873/(19-20)/Sanc/12/2019/1878-1885], and [S&T&RE/RP/147/e-2873/(22-23)/Sanc/09/2022/907-915] and DST Purse grants II. DST, SERB/F/8171/2015-16 and UGC (F. No. 194-2/2016 IC) for providing financial support. Ahmad Umar is thankful to the Deanship of Scientific Research and the supervision of the Centre for Scientific and Engineering Research at Najran University, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for funding under the Research Centers funding program Grant No. NU/RCP/SERC/12/3.