TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Ren, J. A1 - Weber, F. A1 - Choudhury, S. A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Ritter, E. A1 - Cao, D. A1 - Bande, A. A1 - Puskar, L. A1 - Schade, U. A1 - Aziz, E. F. A1 - Petit, T. T1 - Effect of surface chemistry on optical, chemical and electronic properties of blue luminescent graphene quantum dots N2 - Due to their unique physical properties, particularly their electronic and luminescent properties, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are expected to be suitable for a wide range of applications in bioimaging, electro-optical and photonic materials or energy harvesting among others.1 Tuning the surface chemistry provides an efficient approach to modulate the fluorescence and distinct electronic properties of GQDs.2 Nevertheless, the role of surface chemistry on the electronic structure of GQDs remains poorly understood. In this presentation, we will compare systematically the electronic and chemical structures of GQDs functionalized with carboxylic and aminated groups to those of non-functionalized GQDs, combining theoretical and experimental approaches, here various photon-based spectroscopies. First, the electronic structure of GQDs was characterized by soft X-ray absorption (XA) and X-ray emission (XE) spectroscopies, probing unoccupied and occupied electronic states, respectively, at the carbon K edge for the first time. The interpretation of the XA/XE spectra was done based on theoretical calculations. Then, the chemical structure of the GQDs was characterized in situ by ATR-FTIR in water, thereby accounting for the importance of the interface between GQDs and water believed to play a central role in the chemical reactivity and the optical properties. We previously demonstrated that monitoring the OH vibrations of water molecules during exposure to humid air was a powerful method to probe H-bonding environment around carbon nanomaterials.3 For GQDs, clear surface-dependent water adsorption profiles are observed and discussed. Finally, UV/Vis absorption and photoluminescence measurements were done to characterize the optical properties of these GQDs. Our results suggest that the surface chemistry of the GQDs affects significantly their electronic structure and optical properties. These findings will contribute to an improved understanding of the structure–activity relationship of GQDs and other carbon nanomaterials with surface modifications. T2 - MRS Fall Meeting 2017 CY - Boston, USA DA - 26.11.2017 KW - Carbon KW - Nanoparticle KW - Fluorescence KW - NIR KW - IR KW - Surface chemistry KW - Deactivation pathways KW - Lifetime KW - Size KW - Giant carbon dot KW - Quantum yield PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-43494 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -