Facile synthesis and photoluminescence characteristics of blue-emitting nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots

A one-step hydrothermal method for synthesizing nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) from organic carbon sources is presented in this paper. The high-quality N-GQDs can be obtained via tuning the degree of dehydration/carbonization of citric acid and doping of nitrogen atoms into the graphene lattice. The micromorphology, chemical structure, composition and photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of the N-GQDs were characterized systematically. The size of the obtained N-GQDs is about 5–10 nm with typical topographic heights of 0.8–2.5 nm. There is intense blue emission and excitation-independent PL behavior when the N-GQDs are in aqueous solution. The most remarkable innovation is that the fluorescence quantum yield (FL QY) of our N-GQDs is up to 75.2%, which is much higher than that of most reported GQDs (less than 25%). Thus, it is initially believed that synthesis parameters, hydrothermal process and nitrogen doping may greatly influence the surface state and bandgap of the GQDs, which are important in determining the PL characteristics of the N-GQDs.