A low-temperature solid-phase method to synthesize highly fluorescent carbon nitride dots with tunable emission

Highly fluorescent graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots (g-CNQDs) with a quantum yield of 42% are synthesized by a low-temperature solid-phase method with urea and sodium citrate as the precursors. Notably, the tunable emission of g-CNQDs can be achieved by simply adjusting the molar ratio of the two reactants.