Reverse Stern–Volmer behavior for luminescence quenching in carbon nanoparticles

Photoluminescence properties of carbon nanoparticles from different treatments in various suspensions were evaluated, and the results were in general agreement with those available in the literature. An interesting observation was that the quenching of luminescence emissions in the aqueous suspended carbon nanoparticles by aliphatic amines deviated from the classical Stern–Volmer behavior in a somewhat unusual fashion, exhibiting reversed quenching (increasing luminescence intensities) at very low quencher concentrations. The implication of the observation to the mechanistic framework that may account for photoluminescence emissions in both functionalized and naked carbon nanoparticles is proposed and discussed.