Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Plastic Waste-Derived Carbon Dots: Insights of Recycling Valuable Materials Towards Environmental Sustainability

Researchers review how waste plastics, including single-use items that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, can be converted into carbon dots — tiny light-emitting nanoparticles under 10 nanometers — with useful applications in sensing, imaging, and catalysis. This recycling approach offers an environmentally sustainable way to transform a persistent pollution problem into valuable high-tech materials.

2023 Current Pollution Reports 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Advances and prospects of carbon dots for microplastic analysis

This review assessed the potential of carbon dots, luminescent nanomaterials derived from carbon sources, as tools for microplastic detection and analysis in food and environmental samples, offering advantages in sensitivity and selectivity over conventional methods. The authors identify carbon dot-based sensing as a promising direction for filling the gap in standardized microplastic analytical methods.

2022 Chemosphere 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental applications of carbon dots: Addressing microplastics, air and water pollution

This review examined how carbon dots, a class of nanomaterials, can be applied to environmental challenges including microplastic detection, air quality monitoring, and water purification. Researchers found that the unique optical and chemical properties of carbon dots make them particularly promising for sensing and removing pollutants. The study highlights the versatility of these materials as tools for addressing multiple forms of environmental contamination.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoluminescence of Argan-Waste-Derived Carbon Nanodots Embedded in Polymer Matrices

Not relevant to microplastics — this study creates photoluminescent carbon nanodots from argan waste and embeds them in transparent polymer films intended to improve solar panel efficiency by converting UV light, with no connection to microplastic pollution.

2023 Nanomaterials 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Revolutionizing microplastic detection in water through quantum dot fluorescence

Researchers developed a novel approach using carbon quantum dots to stain microplastics, enabling fluorescence-based detection in water at low cost and with simple synthesis, demonstrating high sensitivity and selectivity without the toxicity concerns of conventional fluorescent dyes.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Sustainable microplastic detection using boron-doped carbon dots synthesized from chicken feathers

Researchers synthesized fluorescent boron-doped carbon dots from chicken feathers via one-pot sonochemical processing and demonstrated their use for detecting microplastics in water. The approach converts a poultry farming waste stream into a sustainable optical sensing material, offering a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional microplastic detection probes.

2025 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Encapsulation of carbon-nanodots into metal-organic frameworks for boosting photocatalytic upcycling of polyvinyl chloride plastic

Researchers created a new material by embedding tiny carbon nanodots inside a metal-organic framework to break down PVC plastic waste using light energy. The combined material performed significantly better than either component alone, converting PVC into useful chemical products like formic acid and acetic acid. This photocatalytic approach offers a promising path toward recycling one of the most difficult-to-process types of plastic waste.

2023 Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Preparation of N, Cl Co-Doped Lignin Carbon Quantum Dots and Detection of Microplastics in Water

Researchers synthesized nitrogen and chlorine co-doped lignin carbon quantum dots and demonstrated their use as a fluorescence-based sensor for detecting microplastics in water, offering a promising rapid and cost-effective monitoring approach.

2023 Crystals 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Production of Carbon Quantum Dots Based on Oil Palm Fronds for Polyethylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate Microplastics Detection

Researchers synthesized carbon quantum dots from oil palm frond waste and tested their fluorescence properties for detecting polyethylene and PET microplastics. The bio-based quantum dots provided a cost-effective and environmentally friendly sensing approach for identifying common plastic polymers in environmental samples.

2025 International Journal of Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Carbon quantum dots: Comparative analysis of synthesis strategies and their environmental application

This review provides a comparative analysis of carbon quantum dot (CQD) synthesis strategies and examines their environmental applications, highlighting CQDs' tunable photoluminescence, biocompatibility, and potential use in pollutant sensing and photocatalytic degradation.

2025 Next Materials 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in the Synthesis, Characterization, and Application of Carbon Dots in the Field of Wastewater Treatment: A Comprehensive Review

This review covers carbon dots, a type of nanomaterial that can be used to detect and remove pollutants from wastewater, including heavy metals, dyes, and organic chemicals. Carbon dots can improve water filtration membranes and boost the effectiveness of biological treatment systems. While not directly about microplastics, these technologies could be adapted to help detect and filter microplastics from drinking water and wastewater.

2025 Water 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Carbon nanotubes production from real-world waste plastics and the pyrolysis behaviour

Researchers produced carbon nanotubes from real-world waste plastics through pyrolysis, characterizing the thermal decomposition behavior of mixed plastic waste and demonstrating a valuable upcycling pathway for plastic pollution.

2023 Waste Management 49 citations
Article Tier 2

From waste to energy: luminescent solar concentrators based on carbon dots derived from surgical facemasks

Researchers converted discarded surgical face masks into carbon dots and used them to fabricate luminescent solar concentrators, achieving a solar-to-energy conversion efficiency of 6.1% while diverting pandemic-era plastic waste from landfills.

2023 Materials Advances 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Selective Identification and Quantification of Microplastics Using Solid Fluorescent Green Carbon Dots (SFGCDs) – A Novel, Naked Eye Sensing Fluoroprobe

Researchers developed a novel fluorescent carbon dot probe that can selectively detect and quantify microplastics released from surgical face masks and cosmetic cleansers. The probe works through a fluorescence turn-off mechanism when microplastics are present, with a detection limit as low as 0.0063 g/L for particles 6 micrometers and larger. The study also demonstrated a simple filtration-based remediation approach, with the fluorescence signal recovering after microplastic removal.

2025 Journal of Fluorescence 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Size- and Concentration-Resolved Detection of PET Microplastics in Real Water via Excitation–Emission Matrix Fluorescence Quenching of Polyamide-Derived Carbon Quantum Dots

Scientists developed a new method to detect tiny plastic particles (called microplastics) in drinking water using special fluorescent dots that dim when they encounter plastic pollution. The technique works best at finding very small plastic pieces—smaller than the width of a human hair—which are hardest to detect but potentially most dangerous since they can get into our bodies more easily. This could help monitor plastic contamination in tap water and other water sources we use daily, giving us better information about our exposure to these harmful particles.

2026 Sensors
Article Tier 2

Waste medical mask-derived carbon quantum dots enhance the photocatalytic degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) over BiOBr/g-C3N4 S-scheme heterojunction

Researchers converted waste medical masks into carbon quantum dots and used them to enhance a photocatalytic material that breaks down PET microplastics. The upgraded catalyst degraded PET nearly three times more effectively than the base material alone. The study turns pandemic-generated plastic waste into a tool for addressing microplastic pollution, offering a creative recycling approach.

2025 Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Conversion of Microplastics to Methane with Ultrahigh Selectivity by a Biotic–Abiotic Hybrid Photocatalytic System

Researchers developed a biotic-abiotic hybrid photocatalytic system combining carbon dot-functionalized carbon nitrides with methanogenic archaea that converts biodegradable microplastics into methane with near 100% selectivity, offering a sustainable approach to plastic waste remediation.

2022 Angewandte Chemie International Edition 103 citations
Article Tier 2

Biomass-derived multiatom-doped carbon dots for the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and precipitation of Cr(III)

Researchers created tiny fluorescent carbon dots from plant leaves that can remove toxic hexavalent chromium from contaminated water using sunlight as the energy source. The material achieved up to 100% removal of the heavy metal in acidic conditions and worked well across different types of natural water. While focused on heavy metal cleanup rather than microplastics directly, this technology is relevant because microplastics often carry and concentrate heavy metals like chromium in water environments.

2024 npj Clean Water 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Top-down synthesis of luminescent microplastics and nanoplastics by incorporation of upconverting nanoparticles for environmental assessment

Researchers synthesized luminescent polyethylene microplastic and nanoplastic model particles using a top-down approach by incorporating upconverting nanoparticles, producing irregularly shaped particles similar to environmental samples that are trackable under 980 nm near-infrared irradiation for environmental assessment applications.

2022 Environmental Science Nano 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Natural biomass-derived carbon dots as a potent solubilizer with high biocompatibility and enhanced antioxidant activity

Not relevant to microplastics — this paper investigates carbon dots derived from citrus fruit as a pharmaceutical solubilizer to improve drug bioavailability, with no connection to plastic pollution.

2023 Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 8 citations