Bioinspired synthesis of fluorescent calcium carbonate/carbon dot hybrid composites

Herein, we report a novel method to synthesise fluorescent calcium carbonate/carbon dots (CaCO3/CDs) by simply mixing CaCl2 and Na2CO3 solutions in the presence of CDs. There are two roles of CDs in this easy and cost-effective biomimetic strategy, that is as the template to direct the formation and assembly of calcite nanocrystals into hierarchical spheres with diameters in the range of 200-300 nm and simultaneously as the phosphor to enable the CaCO3 to emit blue fluorescence under UV (365 nm) irradiation with a quantum yield of 56.2%. The CaCO3/CD hybrid composites possessing unique fluorescence properties are potentially useful in various applications.