jp510661d_si_001.pdf (10.94 MB)
Energy Transfer Induced by Carbon Quantum Dots in Porous Zinc Oxide Nanocomposite Films
journal contribution
posted on 2015-02-05, 00:00 authored by Kazumasa Suzuki, Luca Malfatti, Davide Carboni, Danilo Loche, Maria Casula, Alessandro Moretto, Michele Maggini, Masahide Takahashi, Plinio InnocenziA one-pot approach making use of
a zinc oxide sol precursor and
carbon quantum dots, together with a partially fluorinated block copolymer
as templating agent, has been used to synthesize a porous matrix characterized
by interesting energy transfer properties. The choice of the fluorinated
surfactant for inducing the porosity into the inorganic matrix has
allowed an easy removal of the templating agent at low temperature,
preserving at the same time the functional properties of the carbon
quantum dots. The resulting nanocomposite films have been characterized
by steady-state 3D mapping that has evidenced a complex behavior as
a function of the carbon quantum dots concentration. In particular,
the luminescence bands of the zinc oxide matrix appear to be modulated
by the broad emission of the carbon quantum dots, which depends on
their aggregation state. These results can be thus considered as a
step further toward the fine-tuning of the luminescence properties
provided by zinc oxide-based nanocomposites as a result of a doping
effect due to the presence of carbon quantum dots.