Shining Light on Carbon Dots: New Opportunities in Photocatalysis

Photocatalysis is an emerging field that exploits light‐absorbing catalysts to yield transformations not even achievable in the dark. Considering the drawbacks of metal‐based photocatalysts, Carbon Dots (CDs) recently emerged as suitable green alternatives for different photocatalytic reactions. These carbon nanoparticles are easy to prepare, non‐toxic and potentially recyclable. Moreover, CDs usually display core‐shell structures which are highly tunable via synthetic and post‐synthetic strategies. This Concept Article focuses on the recent advancements in the CD‐based photocatalysis, highlighting the link between their superficial and core composition and their resulting photo‐redox abilities, and giving future perspectives on their application in cutting‐edge areas. CDs are a versatile platform to photocatalyze different chemical transformations, due to their high tuneability and unique photo‐redox properties. In detail, this Concept Article highlights recent developments in the use of CDs in photocatalysis, providing some general guidelines in obtaining properly characterized nanomaterials and choosing suitable synthetic routes.Photocatalysis is an emerging area of Chemistry in which Carbon Dots (CDs) have arisen as suitable platforms due to their unique physical‐chemical properties. CDs have highly tunable surfaces which can be tailored by synthetic and post‐synthetic strategies and can be characterized through different techniques. These possibilities paved the way to the application of these carbon‐based nanomaterials as sole photocatalysts in different organic transformations.