Advances in Shell and Core Engineering of Carbonized Polymer Dots for Enhanced Applications

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs), as a novel type of fluorescent nanocarbon material, attract widespread attention in nanomedicine, optoelectronic devices, and energy conversion/storage due to their excellent optical properties, low toxicity, and high stability. They can be classified as graphene quantum dots, carbon quantum dots, and carbonized polymer dots (CPDs). Among these, CPDs exhibit tunable structures and components that allow fine-tuning of their optoelectronic properties, making them one of the most popular types of CDs in recent years. However, the structural complexity of CPDs stimulates deep exploration of the relationship between their unique structure and luminescent performance. As an organic–inorganic hybrid system, the diversity of self-limited quantum state carbon cores and polymer-hybrid shell layers makes understanding the underlying mechanisms and structure–property relationships in CPDs a very challenging task. In this context, elucidating the structural composition of CPDs and the factors that affect their optical properties is vital if the enormous potential of CPDs is to be realized. Achieving controllable structures with predefined optical properties via the adoption of specific functionalization strategies is the prized goal of current researchers in the field.