Versatile Red-Emissive Carbon Dots for Smart Textiles and Fluorescence Sensing
Lai-Wei Jia, Xuan Zhang
Abstract
Red-emissive carbon dots (RCDs) were facilely synthesized from o -phenylenediamine and catechol in ethanol through a hydrothermal method. The produced RCDs showed a triplet fluorescence emission around 597, 647, and 707 nm, respectively. The eco-friendly fluorescent pigment was prepared by dispersing RCDs into poly(vinylpyrrolidone) for smart textiles. Bright and stable fluorescent patterns on the cotton fabrics were successfully created by a screen-printing technique. Based on the pH-sensitive color change of RCDs, reversible volatile acid/amine-responsive RCD-patterned smart textiles and paper indicators were also constructed, respectively. Furthermore, fluorescence-sensing platforms were developed for MnO 4 – using an inner-filter-effect approach. It was found that the present RCDs could be used for the quantitative detection of MnO 4 – in the range of 0–7 μM in aqueous solution and for practical water sample analysis with satisfactory recovery results.