Cucurbituril-assisted formation of tunable carbon dots from single organic precursors in water

The cucurbit[7/8]uril (Q[7]/Q[8]) portal-based host-guest interaction was utilized to assist the formation of carbon dots (CDs) with a tunable particle size and high fluorescence emission via a hydrothermal reaction from a single organic precursor in water. In particular, the original rigid macrocyclic skeletons of these hosts were stably retained during the fabrication process, which helps in uniquely distinguishing them from other reported CDs. We obtained Q[7]-CDs with a long fluorescence lifetime (96 ns) and a high quantum yield (56.75%), and tunable fluorescence emission from the dynamic host-particle interaction of Q[8]-CDs, which can be further exploited as biosensors for 1-adamantanamine. This study showed that cucurbiturils have the unique advantage of generating CDs with high quality and new properties such as macrocycle-CD based host-gust chemistry.

Automated summary

The study utilized the cucurbituril host-guest chemistry to assist in the formation of carbon dots with tunable particle size and high fluorescence emission. By retaining the original rigid macrocyclic skeletons of the hosts during the fabrication process, the CDs obtained were characterized by high quality and unique properties, offering potential applications in biosensors and other fields.