Nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots based hybrids as functional materials

Carbon Nanodots (CNDs) are quasi spherical carbon-based nanoparticles with sizes below 10 nm. CNDs have interesting properties, such as fluorescence, chemical inertness, photobleaching resistance, low toxicity and good solubility in water, as well as a variety of organic solvents. All these features make CNDs promising candidates for a wide range of biological and optoelectronic applications. Recently, our group reported a simple bottom-up approach to Nitrogen-Doped CNDs (NCNDs), through a bottom-up microwave assisted hydrothermal process. These nanoparticles were designed to expose amine functional groups on their surface, which were exploited for post-synthetic functionalization with organic chromophores, in order to prepare novel donor-acceptor nano-hybrids (Figure 1, left). Lately, we focused on tuning the fluorescence emission of NCNDs from blue to green, in order to facilitate their application in the biomedical field. Similarly to the photofunctional hybrid, we further exploited the amine rich surface for preparing hybrids that carry biologically active molecules, such as antibiotics and antifungal agents (Figure 1, right).