One-pot synthesis of aggregation-induced multi-emission and solid-state room-temperature-phosphorescence carbon dots

Multi-emission carbon dots (M-CDs) have broad applications. However, reports of the synthesis of M-CDs and their emission mechanism are limited. In this study, M-CDs with three emissions are synthesized by a one-pot solvothermal method, and the luminescence mechanism is investigated in detail. The prepared M-CDs show significant concentration-dependent properties. For high-concentration M-CDs (HC CDs), the surface-defect and carbon-core luminescence states are related to emission centers at 423 and 586 nm, respectively. The emission center at 493 nm are mainly due to the self-absorption of M-CDs. Conversely, low-concentration M-CDs (LC CDs) have 423 and 586 nm emissions. The blue CDs (B-CDs) and red CDs (R-CDs) are extracted from the prepared M-CD solution. The structural and optical properties indicate that the 493 nm peak is related to aggregation and self-absorption between B-CDs and R-CDs in HC CDs. Surprisingly, solid CDs (S-CDs) with solid-state room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are simultaneously obtained during the preparation of the M-CDs. The mechanism investigation results show that S-CDs are composed of CDs and NaHCO3, and NaHCO3 acts as an oxygen barrier to prevent the quenching of the triplet and rigidly holds the luminescent guests to suppress vibrational dissipation. The M-CDs are successfully applied to detect Morin, while the S-CDs are demonstrated for optical anti-counterfeiting applications.