Green synthesis of highly fluorescent carbon quantum dots from sugarcane bagasse pulp

Schematic representation of CQDs from sugarcane bagasse carbon [Display omitted] •CQDs were synthesised from sugarcane bagasse waste with top down approaches.•Synthesis method is green, simple and efficient process.•CQDs possess high quantum yield, good stability and highly fluorescent in nature.•The morphological and topographical study of CQDs was done by HR-TEM and AFM and was observed that the average size is 4.1±0.17nm and surface thickness is 5nm. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have great potential due to its advantageous characteristics of highly fluorescent nature and good stability. In this study, we aimed to develop a simple and efficient method for the green synthesis of fluorescent CQDs from sugarcane bagasse, a renewable and sustainable resource. The process involves the top down approach of chemical oxidation followed by exfoliation of sugarcane carbon. The synthesized CQDs was characterized by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, Spectrofluorophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS), Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The synthesized CQDs possess stable fluorescent properties, good bio-compatibility and high quantum yield. The CQDs are highly crystalline with longitudinal dimensions of 4.1±0.17nm with an average roughness of around 5nm. The XRD and TEM analysis indicates that the synthesized CQDs possess face centred cubic crystal structure. The results suggest that the proposed CQDs could be utilized for bio-sensor, bio-imaging and drug delivery applications.