Electroluminescence of carbon ‘quantum’ dots – From materials to devices

Carbon ‘quantum’ dots or carbon dots have emerged as a new class of luminescent nanomaterials. While photoluminescence properties of carbon dots had targeted optical imaging and related usage, their unique excited state redox processes responsible for the luminescence emissions may find potentially significant optoelectronic applications. In this regard, we investigated the electroluminescence properties of the carbon dots integrated into multilayer light emitting diode devices. The devices emitted white light with a slight blue color, visible to naked eyes, thus validating the expectation that carbon dots may potentially serve as a new platform for electroluminescent nanomaterials.