Carbon Dots: From Lab Syntheses to Unique Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon dots (CDs) have long been present in human history. In the past 20 years, CDs have witnessed an unprecedented prosperous development from lab synthesis to natural acquisition. A few of the varied synthesis strategies can be grouped into top-down (breaking of large remnants) and bottom-up (small molecule bond breaking/forming). Considering their small size, high water dispersity, excellent biocompatibility, photoluminescence (PL), surface tunability, abundant electron donors and acceptors, and nontoxic nature, CDs and their covalently conjugated derivatives have been widely applied in bioimaging, sensing, security and 3D printing, photocatalysis, thermoelectricity, hybrid fuels and targeted drug/gene delivery to treat various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. CDs are playing an increasingly important role in diverse aspects of research and our lives. However, each type of CD is unique with its own properties and potential applications. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to collect information on different CD species in terms of their synthetic approaches, purification and separation strategies, surface modification techniques, characterization of their optical, structural, morphological, and other physicochemical properties, and aforementioned applications. The goal is to deeply investigate fundamental insights into the structure–function correlation of CDs as well as their promising uses in the diverse fields in which they are applied.

Dr. Yiqun Zhou
Dr. Piumi Liyanage
Dr. Sajini Hettiarachchi
Guest Editors

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