Three Minute Ultrarapid Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Bright Fluorescent Graphene Quantum Dots for Live Cell Staining and White LEDs

Here we introduce a simple, superfast, and scalable strategy that obtains graphene quantum dots (GQDs) within 3 min under microwave irradiation (MA-GQDs). The MA-GQDs exhibit excellent fluorescence quantum yields up to 35% in the optimum reaction condition. The MA-GQDs with single-crystalline and few-layer structure can reach the visible region with the longest absorption wavelength at 700 nm. Moreover, these ultrabright-fluorescence and stable MA-GQDs as a phosphor and fluorescence probe could be efficiently applied in white light-emitting diodes and cell-imaging fields. The developed pathway to GQDs can provide unambiguous and remarkable insights into the design of high-fluorescence and few-defect GQDs, and expedite the applications of GQDs.