Electrogenerated chemiluminescence from carbon dots

We report an interesting property of carbon dots: they emit light under charge injection. We synthesized carbon dots in diameter about 20 nm using wet chemistry methods. The photoluminescence quantum efficiency of the carbon dots dissolved in water was about 11%. We observed strong electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) from the sample. This observation of ECL from carbon dots indicates that they could be a good candidate material for carbon-based electroluminescent devices. © 2011 Materials Research Society