Hydrothermally Green Synthesized Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots from Phyllanthus emblica and Their Catalytic Ability in the Detoxification of Textile Effluents

A facile method for reduction of textile effluents (TEff) using fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) has been developed and reported here. The synthesis of N-CDs was done by a hydrothermal carbonization method using the aqueous extract of Phyllanthus emblica (P. emblica) fruit as a carbon source and aq NH3 as a nitrogen dopant. Various analytical techniques have been employed for the characterization of N-CDs. The size of the synthesized N-CDs was found to be 4.08 nm, which was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis. The graphitic character of the N-CDs was studied by using selected area energy diffraction pattern and Raman spectroscopy studies. Under the excitation of 320 nm, an intense blue fluorescence was emitted by N-CDs of around 400 nm. From the obtained results of energy-dispersive spectrometry, EDAX, and Fourier transform infrared studies, it was confirmed that nitrogen was doped over the N-CD surface. Finally, the catalytic ability of NaBH4 was found to be enhanced remarkably by the synthesized CDs in the detoxification of TEff.