Insight into the synthetic strategies of carbon dots and its Structure-Property interplay for Next-Generation technologies

After carbon nanotubes, carbon nanosheets, and mesoporous carbon materials, carbon dots (CDs) have emerged. Due to theirs advantages such as easy synthesis, low cost, environmental friendliness, low toxicity, good stability, and good biocompatibility, CDs have shown enormous application potential in fields such as biological imaging, optoelectronics, anti-counterfeiting, sensing, energy conversion, and storage, and have received widespread attention worldwide, achieving significant research progress. This article provides a detailed overview of the development process of CDs over the past 10 years, with a focus on their synthesis schemes, structures-property relationships, as well as their important applications and technological prospects. A graphene based structural classification method was proposed, and the preparation plan and latest research progress were updated and summarized. Conduct in-depth research on synthesis strategies and structural characteristics, explore their structures-property relationships at the microstructural level, and analyze the fundamental reasons for their application in multiple fields. Through a comprehensive review of the latest research findings, the applications of CDs in the fields of environment, sensing, biology, energy conversion, and storage have been revealed. Revealed the current bottlenecks of CDs, such as fluorescence, stability, and absorbance. Finally, it also emphasizes effective ways to promote the development of next-generation CDs technology.