Preparation of carbon dots and their sensing applications

Carbon dots (CDs) as a new type of zero-dimensional luminescent nanomaterial have attracted tremendous research interest due to their simple preparation, good biocompatibility, and excellent optoelectronic properties. In comparison to traditional dyes and quantum dots, fluorescent CDs possess unique advantages such as low-cost, good water solubility, and strong resistance to photobleaching; therefore, they have been widely used for sensing applications. In this chapter, we first briefly discuss the synthetic methods of CDs, including “top-down” and “bottom-up” methods. After focusing on sensing mechanisms, we highlight the sensing applications of CDs, including chemosensing and intracellular sensing.