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CQDs as emerging trends for future prospect in enhancement of photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) as a rising class of carbon family have gained widespread attention in view of their multiple properties such as great photoluminescence (PL) properties, facile synthesis route, needing economical and cheap raw material, high physiochemical stability, and simple functionalization. This makes CQDs highly versatile and with potential for different applications. To date, CQDs-enabled photocatalysts are regarded as one of the most efficient technologies to degrade pollutants in water; however, poor activity under visible light and the recombination of photogenerated electron and hole pairs hinder getting an ideal performance that may be applied on a large scale. Conventional techniques have been modified via a new advanced method. In this review, we highlighted the strategies to improve the activity of conventional semiconductor photocatalysis via coupling with CQDs, and strategies to improve the photocatalytic activity such as functionalization, doping, and Z-scheme heterojunctions were discussed in detail. This review also covered the CQDs heterojunction application in pollutant degradation and discussed several examples with high-performance photocatalytic activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52073166, 52072226), the Xi’an Key Laboratory of Green Manufacture of Ceramic Materials Foundation (No. 2019220214SYS017CG039), the Key Program for International S&T Cooperation Projects of Shaanxi Province (2020KW-038, 2020GHJD-04), Science and Technology Program of Xi'an, China (2020KJRC0009) and Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department (No. 20JY001), Science and Technology Resource Sharing Platform of Shaanxi Province (2020PT-022), and Science and Technology Plan of Weiyang District, Xi'an (202009). The authors thank Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Functionalization for Inorganic Materials for their experimental platform and testing conditions. Dr. Y. Q. Feng ias grateful for the support from the Science and Technology Youth Stars Project of Shaanxi Province (2021KJXX-35).

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  1. School of Material Science and Engineering, International S&T Cooperation Foundation of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an Key Laboratory of Green Manufacture of Ceramic Materials, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710021, China

    Noureen Syed, Jianfeng Huang & Yongqiang Feng

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Syed, N., Huang, J. & Feng, Y. CQDs as emerging trends for future prospect in enhancement of photocatalytic activity. Carbon Lett. 32, 81–97 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-021-00282-x

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