With the assistance of microwave irradiation, greenish yellow-luminescent graphene quantum dots (gGQDs) with quantum yield (QY) up to 11.7% have been successfully prepared via cleaving graphene oxide (GO) under acid condition. The cleaving and reduction process could be accomplished simultaneously through microwave treatment without any additional reducing agent. When the gGQDs were further reduced with NaBH4, bright blue-luminescent graphene quantum dots (bGQDs) could be obtained with QY as high as 22.9%. Both GQDs showed well-known excitation-dependent PL behavior. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was observed from the graphene quantum dots for the first time, suggesting promising applications in ECL biosensing and imaging. The ECL mechanism was investigated in detail. Furthermore, a novel sensor for Cd2+ was proposed based on Cd2+ induced ECL quenching with cysteine (Cys) as the masking agent.

Facile microwave avenue to electrochemiluminescent two-color graphene quantum dots

244th National Meeting (2012)

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