TY - JOUR A1 - Meiling, T. T. A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Vogel, Stefanie A1 - Ebel, Kenny A1 - Nicolas, C. A1 - Milosavljević, A. R. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Photophysics and chemistry of nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots with high photoluminescence quantum yield JF - The Journal of Physical Chemistry C N2 - Fluorescent carbon nanodots (CNDs) are very promising nanomaterials for a broad range of applications because of their high photostability, presumed selective luminescence, and low cost at which they can be produced. In this respect, CNDs are superior to well-established semiconductor quantum dots and organic dyes. However, reported synthesis protocols for CNDs typically lead to low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and low reproducibility, resulting in a poor understanding of the CND chemistry and photophysics. Here, we report a one-step synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots (N-CNDs) from various carboxylic acids, Tris, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid resulting in high PLQY of up to 90%. The reaction conditions in terms of starting materials, temperature, and reaction time are carefully optimized and their influence on the photophysical properties is characterized. We find that citric acid-derived N-CNDs can result in a very high PLQY of 90%, but they do not Show selective luminescence. By contrast, acetic acid-derived N-CNDs show selective luminescence but a PLQY of 50%. The chemical composition of the surface and core of these two selected N-CND types is characterized among others by high-Resolution synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy using single isolated N-CND clusters. The results indicate that photoexcitation occurs in the N-CND core, whereas the emission properties are determined by the N-CND surface groups. KW - Carbon nanodots KW - Fluorescence KW - Synchrotron XPS PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b00748 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 122 IS - 18 SP - 10217 EP - 10230 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-45426 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -