Application of Lignin-Derived Graphene Quantum Dots in Visible Light-Driven Photoelectrochemical Photodetector

摘要

Graphene quantum dots are the latest addition to the low-dimensionalnanomaterial family, which have drawn growing attention due to theirunique physiochemical properties and potential applications in many fields.However, their practical application is hindered by the high fabrication costand environmental concerns regarding unsustainable carbon sources androutes. This work demonstrates a universal approach to fabricate variousheteroatom(s) doped lignin-derived graphene quantum dots (LGQDs) forutilization in the photoelectrochemical-type photodetectors (PDs). The resultsindicate that LGQDs are endowed with relatively dopant-rich chemical statesand tailorable broadband photoluminescence. Based on these advantages,these novel LGQDs-based PDs present obvious and fast photo-responsewithin the visible region, as well as good long-term stability in the mild neutralenvironment, suggesting their great practical significance. It is believedthat this work paves a new way for developing PDs based on the photochemicallyactive species from sustainable and cheap biomass-derived lignin.