Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes
Carbon dots (C-dots) were facilely fabricated via a hydrothermal method and fully characterized. Our study shows that the as-synthesized C-dots are nontoxic, negatively charged spherical particles (average diameter 4.7 nm) with excellent water dispersion ability. Furthermore, the C-dots have a rich...
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2020-08-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| author | Zhili Peng Yiqun Zhou Chunyu Ji Joel Pardo Keenan J. Mintz Raja R. Pandey Charles C. Chusuei Regina M. Graham Guiyang Yan Roger M. Leblanc |
| author_facet | Zhili Peng Yiqun Zhou Chunyu Ji Joel Pardo Keenan J. Mintz Raja R. Pandey Charles C. Chusuei Regina M. Graham Guiyang Yan Roger M. Leblanc |
| author_sort | Zhili Peng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Carbon dots (C-dots) were facilely fabricated via a hydrothermal method and fully characterized. Our study shows that the as-synthesized C-dots are nontoxic, negatively charged spherical particles (average diameter 4.7 nm) with excellent water dispersion ability. Furthermore, the C-dots have a rich presence of surface functionalities such as hydroxyls and carboxyls as well as amines. The significance of the C-dots as highly efficient photocatalysts for rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) degradation was explored. The C-dots demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activity, achieving 100% of RhB and MB degradation within 170 min. The degradation rate constants for RhB and MB were 1.8 × 10<sup>−2</sup> and 2.4 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation performances of the C-dots are comparable to those metal-based photocatalysts and generally better than previously reported C-dots photocatalysts. Collectively considering the excellent photocatalytic activity toward organic dye degradation, as well as the fact that they are facilely synthesized with no need of further doping, compositing, and tedious purification and separation, the C-dots fabricated in this work are demonstrated to be a promising alternative for pollutant degradation and environment protection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:46:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ce87f1a3eb064d498413663b4108df3f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:46:16Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-ce87f1a3eb064d498413663b4108df3f2023-11-20T09:31:42ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912020-08-01108156010.3390/nano10081560Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic DyesZhili Peng0Yiqun Zhou1Chunyu Ji2Joel Pardo3Keenan J. Mintz4Raja R. Pandey5Charles C. Chusuei6Regina M. Graham7Guiyang Yan8Roger M. Leblanc9National Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, ChinaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USANational Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, ChinaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USADepartment of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USADepartment of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USADepartment of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USADepartment of Neurological Surgery, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USAKey Laboratory of Green Energy and Environment Catalysis (Ningde Normal University), Fujian Province University, Ningde 352100, ChinaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USACarbon dots (C-dots) were facilely fabricated via a hydrothermal method and fully characterized. Our study shows that the as-synthesized C-dots are nontoxic, negatively charged spherical particles (average diameter 4.7 nm) with excellent water dispersion ability. Furthermore, the C-dots have a rich presence of surface functionalities such as hydroxyls and carboxyls as well as amines. The significance of the C-dots as highly efficient photocatalysts for rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) degradation was explored. The C-dots demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activity, achieving 100% of RhB and MB degradation within 170 min. The degradation rate constants for RhB and MB were 1.8 × 10<sup>−2</sup> and 2.4 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation performances of the C-dots are comparable to those metal-based photocatalysts and generally better than previously reported C-dots photocatalysts. Collectively considering the excellent photocatalytic activity toward organic dye degradation, as well as the fact that they are facilely synthesized with no need of further doping, compositing, and tedious purification and separation, the C-dots fabricated in this work are demonstrated to be a promising alternative for pollutant degradation and environment protection.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/8/1560carbon dotsphoto catalysisdye degradationenvironment cleanrhodamine Bmethylene blue |
| spellingShingle | Zhili Peng Yiqun Zhou Chunyu Ji Joel Pardo Keenan J. Mintz Raja R. Pandey Charles C. Chusuei Regina M. Graham Guiyang Yan Roger M. Leblanc Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes Nanomaterials carbon dots photo catalysis dye degradation environment clean rhodamine B methylene blue |
| title | Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes |
| title_full | Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes |
| title_fullStr | Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes |
| title_short | Facile Synthesis of “Boron-Doped” Carbon Dots and Their Application in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes |
| title_sort | facile synthesis of boron doped carbon dots and their application in visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes |
| topic | carbon dots photo catalysis dye degradation environment clean rhodamine B methylene blue |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/8/1560 |
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