Application of Fluorescent Carbon Dots as Catalysts for the Ring-Opening Reaction of Epoxides.

Considering the increased anthropogenic emissions of CO into the atmosphere, it is important to develop economic incentives for the use of CO capture methodologies. The conversion of CO into heterocyclic carbonates shows significant potential. However, there is a need for suitable organocatalysts to reach the required efficiency for these reactions.

Annealing-assisted optimization for persistency of afterglow of SrAlO:Eu/Dy microparticles for forensic detection.

In the present work, Eu/Dy ions doped/co-doped into persistent SrAlO microparticles have been developed through solid-state synthesis followed by homogenization and particle size reduction in a ball milling device. These particles have shown a broad and long-persistent afterglow around the 528 nm wavelength of electromagnetic radiation through a broad excitation at around 400 nm. The luminescence intensity was optimized through the selection of different annealing temperatures in the range of 1100 °C to 1500 °C, with intervals of 100 °C.

Normal breast epithelial MCF-10A cells to evaluate the safety of carbon dots.

The human normal breast cell line MCF-10A is being widely used as a model in toxicity studies due to its structural similarity to the normal human mammary epithelium. Over the years, application of carbon dots (C-dots) in biomedicine has been increasing due to their photoluminescence properties, biocompatibility, biosafety and possible applications in bioimaging and as drug carriers. In this work we prepared three different C-dots from the same set of carbon and nitrogen precursors (citric acid and urea, respectively) three distinct bottom-up synthetic routes and their safety was tested against the normal breast cell line MCF-10A.

Evaluation of Different Bottom-up Routes for the Fabrication of Carbon Dots.

Carbon dots (CDs) are carbon-based nanoparticles with very attractive luminescence features. Furthermore, their synthesis by bottom-up strategies is quite flexible, as tuning the reaction precursors and synthesis procedures can lead to an endless number of CDs with distinct properties and applications. However, this complex variability has made the characterization of the structural and optical properties of the nanomaterials difficult.

Turning Spent Coffee Grounds into Sustainable Precursors for the Fabrication of Carbon Dots.

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are known for containing many organic compounds of interest, including carbohydrates, lipids, phenolic compounds and proteins. Therefore, we investigated them as a potential source to obtain carbon dots (CDs) via a nanotechnology approach. Herein, a comparison was performed between CDs produced by SCGs and classic precursors (e.

Insight into the hybrid luminescence showed by carbon dots and molecular fluorophores in solution.

Carbon dots have attracted great attention from the research community given their very attractive luminescent properties. However, the recent discovery that some of these properties may result from fluorescent impurities originating from the synthesis process, and not from the carbon dots themselves, constitute a significant setback to our knowledge of these materials. Herein, we proceeded to the study of carbon dots generated from citric acid and urea via a microwave-assisted synthesis, focusing on their analysis by AFM, HR-TEM, XPS, FT-IR, ESI-MS, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Glucose Sensing by Fluorescent Nanomaterials.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease and leading cause of death worldwide, affecting more than 420 million people. High blood glucose levels are a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes, which can cause serious health damage. Diabetic individuals must measure their blood glucose levels regularly in order to control glycemic levels and minimize the effects of the disease.

3-Hydroxyphenylboronic Acid-Based Carbon Dot Sensors for Fructose Sensing.

The selective fluorescence sensing of fructose was achieved by fluorescence quenching of the emission of hydrothermal-synthesized carbon quantum dots prepared by 3-hydroxyphenylboronic acid. Quantification of fructose was possible in aqueous solutions with pH of 9 (Limit of Detection L and Limit of Quantification L of 2.04 and 6.

Degradation in chlorinated water of the UV filter 4-tert-butyl-4'-methoxydibenzoylmethane present in commercial sunscreens.

4-tert-Butyl-4'-methoxydibenzoylmethane (BMDM) is a widely used ultraviolet A filter. In this work, we have studied the effect of chlorine and dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations on the stability of UV filter (BMDM) present in two commercial sunscreen cream formulations in water. An experimental design was used to assess the effect of the two experimental factors on the degradation of BMDM.