Synthesis of Water-Soluble Fluorescent Carbon Dots from a One-Step Hydrothermal Method with Potato

Water-soluble fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) have been synthesized in one step by hydrothermal treatment of potato. Effects of the hydrothermal treatment time, temperature, potato additive amount and pH on the light emissions of the CDs were also studied. HRTEM images of the CDs showed spherical particles with fairly uniform diameter of approximate 2~3 nm, which also dispersed excellently in water. The characteristic absorption peak of CDs appeared at about 280 nm and exhibits a strong bright blue light emission with a high quantum yield (14.2%). The mechanism of the fluorescent emission from CDs was proposed. Moreover, some highly fluorescent CDs were also prepared with other vegetables under the same condition.