Electrochemical synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon dot inks and evaluation of their use for anticounterfeiting applications

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dc.contributor.authorPiletti, Martinaen
dc.contributor.authorKrasoudaki, Themisen
dc.contributor.authorMatulac, Andrea Louiseen
dc.contributor.authorSygellou, Labrinien
dc.contributor.authorAngelone, Darioen
dc.contributor.authorSekar, Sanathana Konugolu Venkataen
dc.contributor.authorGiorgi, Rodoricoen
dc.contributor.authorQuinn, Aidan J.en
dc.contributor.authorIacopino, Danielaen
dc.contributor.funderHorizon 2020en
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Research Executive Agencyen
dc.contributor.funderResearch Irelanden
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-30T16:31:08Z
dc.date.available2026-01-30T16:31:08Z
dc.date.issued2025-05-12en
dc.description.abstractThis work investigates the optical properties of nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) obtained by a bottom-up electrochemical approach and their potential for anticounterfeiting applications. The N-CDs were readily synthesized by application of voltage to an aqueous solution of urea and sodium citrate for 2 h, followed by a filtering and drying step. The N-CDs exhibited a strong and tunable blue to green wavelength excitation-dependent fluorescence emission and a quantum yield of 20%. The N-CDs also displayed solvatochromism, concentration-dependent fluorescence emission properties and high stability across a wide range of NaCl concentrations (0–5 M), temperatures (4–40 °C), and pHs (2–9). Fluorescent inks were obtained by dispersing concentrated N-CDs in various matrices, and their suitability for anticounterfeiting applications was tested by performing optical and accelerated aging analysis of fluorescent marks obtained by pen writing, brushing, and inkjet printing of the inks on paper. In all cases the written features were invisible under daylight and displayed bright fluorescence emission, which remained stable upon storage in the dark for several months and showed good resistance to accelerated aging processes. This novel in depth analysis performed on electrochemically produced CDs shows a route for the fast and low-cost production of fluorescent markers for applications in information security and flexible optics.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationPiletti, M., Krasoudaki, T., Matulac, A., Sygellou, L., Angelone, D., Konugolu Venkata Sekar, S., Giorgi, R., Quinn, A.J. and Iacopino, D. (2025) 'Electrochemical synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon dot inks and evaluation of their use for anticounterfeiting applications', Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 13(25), pp. 12801–12811. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TC00939Aen
dc.identifier.doi10.1039/D5TC00939Aen
dc.identifier.eissn2050-7534en
dc.identifier.endpage12811en
dc.identifier.issn2050-7526en
dc.identifier.issued25en
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of Materials Chemistry Cen
dc.identifier.startpage12801en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18494
dc.identifier.volume13en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherRoyal Society of Chemistry (RSC)en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE::HORIZON-AG/101094245/EU/Artwork Unique RecognitiOn and tRacking through chemicAl encoded data, miniaturized devices and blockchain alliance/AURORAen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020::MSCA-ITN-ETN/860185/EU/Photonics for Healthcare: multiscAle cancer diagnosiS and Therapy/PHASTen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/Research Professorship Programme::Second-Term Funding/22/RP-2TF/10293/IE/Biophotonics@Tyndall phase 2 - Novel applications and techniques for in vivo optical imaging and spectroscopy/en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/Research Centres Programme/12/RC/2276/IE/I-PIC Irish Photonic Integration Research Centre/en
dc.rights© 2025, The Royal Society of Chemistry.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
dc.statusPeer revieweden
dc.subjectNitrogen-doped carbon dotsen
dc.subjectN-CDsen
dc.subjectAnticounterfeiting applicationsen
dc.titleElectrochemical synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon dot inks and evaluation of their use for anticounterfeiting applicationsen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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