0000000000529424
AUTHOR
Carlo Maria Carbonaro
Photoluminescent and paramagnetic centers in gamma irradiated porous silica
Abstract The photoluminescence and electron spin resonance properties of gamma irradiated (up to 500 kGy) porous silica are reported. By exciting at 5.6 eV a photoluminescence contribution can be detected before irradiation, peaked at about 4.1 eV. Gamma irradiation causes the generation of the E′ centers (about 1 × 1014 defects cm−3) of paramagnetic hole centers and modifies the photoluminescence properties of the sample: the emission amplitude decreases and three contributions can be singled out at about 3.3, 3.8 and 4.4 eV.
Harnessing Molecular Fluorophores in the Carbon Dots Matrix: The Case of Safranin O
The origin of fluorescence in carbon dots (C-dots) is still a puzzling phenomenon. The emission is, in most of the cases, due to molecular fluorophores formed in situ during the synthesis. The carbonization during C-dots processing does not allow, however, a fine control of the properties and makes finding the source of the fluorescence a challenging task. In this work, we present a strategy to embed a pre-formed fluorescent molecule, safranin O dye, into an amorphous carbonaceous dot obtained by citric acid carbonization. The dye is introduced in the melted solution of citric acid and after pyrolysis remains incorporated in a carbonaceous matrix to form red-emitting C-dots that are strongl…