Mass production of highly fluorescent full color carbon dots from the petroleum coke

Heavy oil is treated as an undesirable raw material in traditional refining markets because of its low yield. However, its rich natural aromatic structure and heteroatomic compounds make it possible to be a precursor to large-scale production of carbon materials. Using heavy oil and three SDA products as precursors, we synthesized highly fluorescent multi-color carbon dots (CDs) by hydrothermal method, which can precisely control the photoluminescence wavelength in the range of 350-650 nm. The synthesized carbon dots have the advantages of good long-term stability and stability under extreme pH conditions and low price. Importantly, the carbon dots synthesized with asphalt as the precursor have the highest fluorescence quantum yield. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to elucidate the effects of different precursor on emission color change and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), thus providing a controlled tuning of the system for the functionalization of CDs. And we further used the CDs in macrophage labeling. This pathway gives a reliable and repeatable industry possibility and may boost the applications of CDs into reality. (c) 2020 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Heavy oil, viewed as an undesirable raw material due to its low yield, can serve as a precursor to highly fluorescent multi-color carbon dots with good stability using hydrothermal method. These carbon dots synthesized with asphalt as the precursor show the highest fluorescence quantum yield, and are promising for macrophage labeling applications.