Facile Synthetic Method for Pristine Graphene Quantum Dots and Graphene Oxide Quantum Dots: Origin of Blue and Green Luminescence

: Pristine graphene quantum dots and graphene oxide quantum dots are synthesized by chemical exfoliation from the graphite nanoparticles with high uniformity in terms of shape (circle), size (less than 4 nm), and thickness (monolayer). The origin of the blue and green photoluminescence of GQDs and GOQDs is attributed to intrinsic and extrinsic energy states, respectively.