The influence of the type of ions hydration on photoluminescence of carbon dots in aqueous suspensions

Abstract

This manuscript is devoted to the study of the influence of the type of ions hydration on photoluminescence (PHL) of carbon dots (CDs) in aqueous suspensions. It is shown that ions with different hydration properties affect differently on CDs PHL. Positively hydrated cations increase the intensity of CDs PHL, and negatively hydrated cations weaken CDs PHL. The effect of the anions hydration type on CDs PHL is mediated through their effect on the strength of cations hydrate shells. Due to the fact that the hydration properties of individual ions are well studied, the proposed hypothesis allows to ‘anticipate’ the PHL response of CDs under the addition of certain salts, which can serve as the basis for creating CDs-based fluorescent sensors.

KEYWORDS:

• Carbon dots
• hydrothermal synthesis
• photoluminescence
• ion hydration

Additional information

Funding

This study has been supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 20-32-70150).