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. 2020 Nov 19;5(47):30363-30372.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c03290. eCollection 2020 Dec 1.

Biocompatible Carbon Quantum Dots Derived from Sugarcane Industrial Wastes for Effective Nonlinear Optical Behavior and Antimicrobial Activity Applications

Surendran Pandiyan  1 , Lakshmanan Arumugam  1 , Sakthy Priya Srirengan  1 , Rameshkumar Pitchan  1 , Pushpalatha Sevugan  1 , Karthik Kannan  2 , Geetha Pitchan  3 , Tejaswi Ashok Hegde  4 , Vinitha Gandhirajan  4
Affiliations

Biocompatible Carbon Quantum Dots Derived from Sugarcane Industrial Wastes for Effective Nonlinear Optical Behavior and Antimicrobial Activity Applications

Surendran Pandiyan et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

In this work, the green synthesis of highly fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with an efficient quantum yield of 17.98% using sugarcane bagasse pulp as the precursor was conducted by a hydrothermal technique. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that the CQDs were competently monodispersed with the particle size ranging between 0.75 and 2.75 nm. The structural properties of CQDs were investigated using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The UV-visible spectrum showed two absorption peaks due to the aromatic C=C transitions of π-π* and C=O transitions of n-π*. The fluorescence spectrum of CQDs displayed a strong blue emission. However, the first-ever of its kind, sugarcane industrial solid waste carbon quantum dots caused significant orders to obey the enhancement of the third-order nonlinearity (χ(3)) when compared with other carbon dots (CDs). The calculated nonlinear optical (NLO) parameters such as n 2, β, and χ(3) were 1.012 × 10-8 cm2/W, 2.513 × 10-4, and 3.939 × 10-7 esu, respectively. The figures of merit were evaluated to be W = 6.6661 and T = 0.0132, which greatly fulfilled the optical switching conditions. Besides, the antibacterial activities of CQDs were screened against aquatic Gram-positive (Benthesicymus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholerae, and Escherichia coli) microbial organisms. Our findings, however, indicate that synergistic sugarcane industrial waste CQDs are promising materials for the functioning of NLO devices, bioimaging, and pharmaceutical applications.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a, b) HRTEM image with different magnifications, (c) size distribution chart for CQDs, and (d) XRD pattern of CQDs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FTIR spectrum of synthesized CQDs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Survey XPS spectra of CQDs (A) and high-resolution XPS data of (B) C 1s, (C) N 1s, and (D) O 1s.
Figure 4
Figure 4
UV–visible absorption spectrum of CQDs.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Linear refractive index of carbon quantum dots.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Fluorescence emission spectrum of CQDs at different concentrations.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) Sample at the focal point (Z = 0), (b) sample self-focusing (+n2), and (c) sample self-defocusing (−n2).
Figure 8
Figure 8
(a) Closed and (b) ratio of closed and open aperture Z-scan patterns of as-prepared CQDs.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Open aperture Z-scan pattern of as-prepared CQDs.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Antibacterial activities of as-prepared CQDs against (a) Bacillus cereus, (b) Staphylococcus aureus, (c) Pseudomonas aeruginosa, (d) Escherichia coli, and (e) Vibrio cholerae bacterial pathogens.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Schematic diagram of the antimicrobial activity mechanism.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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