Diamond-like carbon structure-doped carbon dots: A new class of self-quenching-resistant solid-state fluorescence materials toward light-emitting diode

Abstract The construction of simple and low-cost light-emitting diode (LED) based on carbon dots (CDs) powder is an important and challenging task. Here, diamond-like carbon (sp 3 C) structure-doped carbon dots (D-CDs) powder was prepared within 8 min via a one-step microwave-assisted pyrolysis route with a high production yield of 67.8%. The obtained D-CDs powder emits bright solid-state fluorescence without any other additional solid matrices and exhibits a quantum yield of 67.7%. Self-quenching effect caused by direct π-π interactions and fluorescence resonance energy transfer is strongly suppressed by the sp 3 and sp 2 carbon hybrid structure and the single energy level in the D-CDs powder. The D-CDs powder was directly employed as phosphors in LED, and bright blue LED was successfully constructed with maximum luminance achieving 3922 cd m −2 . More importantly, the introduction of diamond-like carbon (sp 3 C) structure opens a new era for the preparation of CDs powder with solid-state fluorescence.