Prof.
Dr. Dirk Guldi. Credit: FAU/Erich Malter
An
international team of researchers, including researchers from
Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) headed by Prof. Dr.
Dirk M. Guldi have now managed to identify the fundamental problems relating to
the photophysics and photochemistry of carbon nanocolloids (CNC), and ascertain
possible approaches for research into these readily available, non-toxic and
adaptable nanomaterials.
Light is
not only the primary source of energy for life on Earth, it is also hugely
important for a number of technical applications. Nanomaterials such as carbon
nanocolloids (CNC) which can be used to tailor light-material interactions will
have an important role to play in the technology of the future. As a
sustainable product, they will help to avoid toxic waste and excessive
consumption of resources. However, their range of application has been rather
limited to date as their heterogenity hindered researchers in their attempts to
find a uniform way of describing CNCs in an excited state. An international
team of researchers, including researchers from FAU headed by Prof. Dr. Dirk M.
Guldi from the Chair of Physical Chemistry I have now managed to identify the
fundamental problems relating to the photophysics and photochemistry of carbon
nanocolloids (CNC), and ascertain possible approaches for research into these
readily available, non-toxic and adaptable nanomaterials. The researchers have
published their results in the journal Chem, in an article titled "Optical
processes in carbon nanocolloids."
Carbon
nanocolloids are highly heterogeneous materials. They are tiny carbon-based
particles of less than 10 nanometres in diameter. The lack of a common
description of their properties in an excited state makes it difficult for them
to be used in technological, ecological and biomedical applications. However,
one of their most interesting features is their photoluminescence, in other
words the emission of light after the absorption of photons, which make them a
promising candidate for technological or biomedical applications. The
researchers believe that adding a solution will encourage the luminescence of
CNC after irradiation, a process also known as phosphoresence. The findings of
the international team will serve as the starting point for making CNCs
available for technological applications.