Corrosion resistant solid-state carbon dots@silicalite-1 composite for latent fingerprints detection

The aggregation-induced quenching (AIQ) properties of the solid-state carbon dots (CDs) limit their wide scale actual applications. Herein, a novel corrosion resistant solid-state CDs@Silicalite-1 (CDs@S-1) composite was synthesized via in situ embedding CDs into the S-1 matrix. Owing to the confinement effect, CDs are immobilized into the interrupted defects of the three-dimensional S-1 matrix. The as-prepared composite possesses high photoluminescence quantum yield (63%) and extra-high stability in common organic solvents and various pH solutions (pH=2-14). Moreover, the feasibility of the CDs@S-1 composite as a fluorescent label on various substrates was investigated. The results demonstrate the images with welldefined papillary ridges under ultraviolet (UV) light and show great potential for latent fingerprints detection in forensic science. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

A corrosion resistant solid-state CDs@Silicalite-1 (CDs@S-1) composite with high photoluminescence quantum yield and exceptional stability in various organic solvents and pH conditions was successfully synthesized. The composite shows great potential as a fluorescent label for various substrates and has promising applications in forensic science for latent fingerprints detection.