Fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) are a new type of photoluminescent nanomaterial. Solid-state CDs usually undergo fluorescence quenching due to direct π-π* interactions and superabundant energy resonance transfer. Therefore, the preparation of solid-state fluorescent CDs is a challenge, especially the preparation of long wavelength solid-state CDs. In this research, long wavelength emission CDs were successfully synthesized by solvothermal methods, and the prepared CDs showed good hydrophobicity. The composite solid-state CDs/PVP (Polyvinyl pyrrolidone) can emit strong red fluorescence, and the quantum yield (QY) of the CDs/PVP powder reaches 18.9%. The prepared CDs/PVP solid-state powder was successfully applied to latent fingerprint detection. The results indicate that the latent fingerprints developed by CDs/PVP powder have a fine definition and high contrast visualization effect, which proves that the prepared CDs/PVP has great application potential in latent fingerprint detection. This study may provide inspiration and ideas for the design of new hydrophobic CDs.
Keywords: carbon dots; hydrophobicity; latent fingerprints; red fluorescence.