A Review of First-Principles Studies of Carbon Dot Photoluminescence: Implications for Biomedical Applications

This review article illustrates the sustainable development of graphene dots (GDs) by using natural resources and industrial waste as a precursor material. The discussion mainly addresses two major aspects in this context: (i) the straightforward, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly scalable GD synthesis technique using a sustainable precursor coupled with (ii) the indispensable role of first-principles calculations as a guiding tool for rational comprehensive understanding, desired modification, and advancement of GDs incorporating improved features in relation to their practical biomedical applications. An intriguing discussion on the recent development of water-dispersible GDs derived from steel industry-based carbonaceous waste material has been outlined as a notable feature, and this is believed to be appealing to the GD community. Additionally, this study also provides an overview on the application of a natural precursor-based GD fluorescent biosensor for detection of different bioanalytes and its working mechanism.