The role of the chemical composition on the photoluminescence properties of N-doped carbon nanoparticles

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) have aroused a great interest due to its strong blue fluorescence emission. However, the blue fluorescence limits its applications in several cases; therefore, the synthesis of CNPs with multicolor emissions becomes mandatory. A widely used strategy of modulation of CNP photoluminescence is doping the carbon network with nitrogen atoms. Despite the great number of works carried out with N-doped CNPs, some contradictory experimental observations have been reported. These contradictions seem to be due to structural differences resulting of the different synthesis routes. Therefore, it is difficult to correlate the Photoluminescence properties with the nanoparticle structure. To address this issue, we study the Photoluminescence properties of CNPs with different chemical composition and sizes. Nanoparticles were synthesized by an acidic treatment for cutting carbonaceous materials previously reported and five different precursors. Using this methodology, we obtained five different materials which allow correlating the Photoluminescence spectrum with chemical composition and nanoparticle sizes.