Development of luminescent carbon dots for multi-applications

我们从石油时代得到的教训是：如果不平衡能源的高需求和严重的环境问题，全球经济就不可能持续繁荣。根据太阳能市场研究和分析，2009年全球光伏产业创造了385亿美元的收入。太阳能市场规模以每年30%的速度增长。近十年来，世界各国在利用太阳能、减少和避免二氧化碳排放方面做了大量的努力。是否有可能开发出一种能够解决两个挑战的设备？该项目的目标是与Saint Jean Carbon Inc. （SJC）合作，开发用于多种应用的碳基量子点（C-dots），特别是在光诱导电子转移设备和二氧化碳捕获方面。在这个为期两年的合作研究项目中，首先，我们将开发一种时间效率高的工艺来生产具有可调光学特性的基于c点的纳米系统；并将c点结合到ZnO纳米棒上，用于收集太阳能，以获得有效的光诱导电子转移。此外，本项目将设计和开发一种合适的表面修饰，以在基于c点的纳米系统上共轭enayme，以实现高效的CO2捕获。本项目通过纳米材料和生物材料的应用，旨在开发一种具有二氧化碳捕获能力的高效光伏装置。两名学员将参与该项目，以获得有关纳米材料和环保设备开发的知识和技能。该研究项目的成功将有助于加拿大企业开拓更多潜在的应用领域，拓宽碳基产品的视野，促进加拿大生态友好型经济的发展

The lesson we learnt in the petroleum era is: global economy cannot be sustainably prosperous without balancing the high demand in energy resource and the serious environmental issue. According to the solar market research and analysis, the photovoltaic solar (PV) industry created $38.5 billion in revenues globally in 2009. The market size of solar energy increases with the rate of 30% annually. Great efforts have been attempted for utilizing solar energy and minimizing and avoiding the CO2 emission in the world for a decade. Is it possible to develop a device to be able to solve two challenges? The goal of this project is to work with Saint Jean Carbon Inc. (SJC) to develop carbon-based quantum dots (C-dots) for multi-applications, especially in photo-induced electron transfer devices and CO2 capture. In this two-year collaborative research project, first we will develop a time-efficient process to produce C-dots-based nanosystems with tunable optical properties; and to incorporate C-dots onto ZnO nanorods for harvesting solar energy to obtain efficient photoinduced electron transfer. In addition, this project will design and develop a suitable surface modification to conjugate enayme on the C-dots-based nanosystem for efficient CO2 capture. This project by applying nanomaterials and biomaterials aims at developing a high efficient PV device with the capacity for CO2 capture. Two trainees will be involved in this project to gain the knowledge and skills on development of nanomaterials and environmentally-friendly devices. The successful research project will help Canadian companies to open up more potential areas of applications, to broaden the horizon of carbon-based products, and to boost Canadian Eco-friendly economy.**