Chemical- and green-precursor-derived carbon dots for photocatalytic degradation of dyes.

Rapid industrialization and untreated industrial effluents loaded with toxic and carcinogenic contaminants, especially dyes that discharge into environmental waters, have led to a rise in water pollution, with a substantial adverse impact on marine life and humankind. Photocatalytic techniques are one of the most successful methods that help in degradation and/or removal of such contaminants. In recent years, semiconductor quantum dots are being substituted by carbon dots (CDs) as photocatalysts, due to the ease of formation, cost-effectiveness, possible sustainability and scalability, much lower toxicity, and above all its high capacity to harvest sunlight (UV, visible, and near infrared) through electron transfer that enhances the lifetime of the photogenerated charge carriers.