Multifunctional carbon nanostructures for environmental and healthcare applications

Abstract

newline Carbon nanomaterials are pioneering in every field of science, engineering, technology, healthcare, environmental monitoring, and so on. Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) are carbon nanomaterials with properties such as luminescence, stability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and dispersibility in multiple solvents. Easy preparation methods and surface tunability make them unique. The surface of GQDs can be modified with different functional groups of organic compounds, aromatic compounds, biomolecules, dyes, hetero atoms, etc., Engineering the surface of the GQDs improves optical and electronic characteristics, structure, and morphology. The selection of a carbon source to synthesize GQDs is crucial. Many methods are available to synthesize GQDs, pyrolysis is the easiest, quick, and most affordable method. Furthermore, it is essential to pick the proper functional moiety for creating functionalized GQDs (FGQDs) for the desired applications. Based on the functional moiety and the functional groups, the appropriate functionalization strategy must be chosen. In the current thesis, fluorescent GQDs are synthesized without the surfactants followed by functionalization with 1,8-diamino naphthalene (DAN GQDs), nitrogen (Alk NGQDs), and tyrosine (Tyr GQDs). Different functionalization strategies are investigated to synthesize FGQDs. The physiochemical characteristics of FGQDs are evaluated using various analytical techniques.