The interaction of photoexcited carbon nanodots with metal ions disclosed down to the femtosecond scale

Sciortino, Alice; Madonia, A.; Gazzetto, Michela; Sciortino, L.; Rohwer, Egmont Johann; Feurer, Thomas; Gelardi, F. M.; Cannas, M.; Cannizzo, Andrea; Messina, F. (2017). The interaction of photoexcited carbon nanodots with metal ions disclosed down to the femtosecond scale. Nanoscale, 9(33), pp. 11902-11911. Royal Society of Chemistry 10.1039/c7nr03754f

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Fluorescent carbon nanodots are a novel family of carbon-based nanoscale materials endowed with an outstanding combination of properties that make them very appealing for applications in nanosensing, photonics, solar energy harvesting and photocatalysis. One of the remarkable properties of carbon dots is their strong sensitivity to the local environment, especially to metal ions in solution. These interactions provide a testing ground for their marked photochemical properties, highlighted by many studies, and frequently driven by charge transfer events. Here we combine several optical techniques, down to femtosecond time resolution, to understand the interplay between carbon nanodots and aqueous metal ions such as Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺. We find that copper inhibits the fluorescence of carbon dots through static and diffusional quenching mechanisms, and our measurements allow discriminating between the two. Ultrafast optical methods are then used to address the dynamics of copper-dot complexes, wherein static quenching takes place, and unveil the underlying complexity of their photocycle. We propose an initial increase of electronic charge on the surface of the dot, upon photo-excitation, followed by a partial electron transfer to the nearby ion, with 0.2 ps and 1.9 ps time constants, and finally a very fast (≪1 ps) non-radiative electron–hole recombination which brings the system back to the ground state. Notably, we find that the electron transfer stage is governed by an ultrafast water rearrangement around photo-excited dots, pointing out the key role of solvent interactions in the photo-physics of these systems.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Applied Physics
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Applied Physics > Lasers

UniBE Contributor:

Sciortino, Alice, Gazzetto, Michela, Rohwer, Egmont Johann, Feurer, Thomas, Cannizzo, Andrea

Subjects:

600 Technology > 620 Engineering
500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

2040-3364

Publisher:

Royal Society of Chemistry

Language:

English

Submitter:

Simone Corry

Date Deposited:

15 Jun 2018 09:29

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:12

Publisher DOI:

10.1039/c7nr03754f

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.114726

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/114726

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