Surfactant-Derived Amphiphilic Carbon Dots with Tunable Photoluminescence

We present a new class of fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) prepared hydrothermally from cationic surfactant cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). Because of the high carbon content, amphiphilicity, and the presence of a heteroaromatic π system, CPC acts as a carbon source, stabilizing agent, and contributing fluorophore in the prepared CDs-based system. The surfactant-derived carbon dots exhibit amphiphilicity, tunable blue–green–yellow photoluminescence dependent upon the solvent polarity, reaction conditions, and excitation wavelength, excellent long-term colloidal and photostability, and a large-scale synthesis potential. The reported findings open the doors for the applicability of surfactants as a carbon source for nanosystems with controllable photoluminescence and amphiphilicity.