Production of superoxide anion radicals as evidence for carbon nanodots acting as electron donors by the chemiluminescence method

In this communication, a novel chemiluminescence phenomenon was observed for the as-prepared carbon nanodots (CDs) in a concentrated sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. The generation of superoxide anion radical (O-2(center dot-)) directly provides evidence for the excellent electron-donating ability of CDs.