Unveil the Fluorescence of Carbon Quantum Dots

In this paper, the carbon dots (CDs) are synthesized by strong acids oxidation, precisely size-controlled by step-wise dialysis, and charge-separated by chromatography. The surface defect dependent fluorescence is investigated by these charge-separated, similar sized, and various fluorescence colors emitted CDs. By investigating the reduced CDs by hydrothermal method, the size effect determined fluorescence is also proved.