Fluorescence Quenching by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer in Carbon-Cadmium Sulfide Core-Shell Quantum Dots.

Carbon quantum dots (QDs) are an active subject of research in many areas of science and engineering for various applications. The present work reports the first occurrence of a carbon-cadmium sulfide core-shell QD prepared by an extremely simplified wet chemical approach where the CdS shell plays the role of a fluorescence quencher to the carbon core. The quenching effect was confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy (steady-state and lifetime). These QDs stand as a potential candidate for sensing and imaging applications.