Abstract Nitrogen doped biogenic carbon dots have become promising candidates for diverse applications in the field of environment and medicine. In the present work, an eco-friendly and hydrothermal route was employed to synthesize highly fluorescent phyto derived nitrogen doped carbon dots (PDNCDs) from neem seeds. The prepared PDNCDs exhibited high water dispersity, excellent optical and fluorescent properties. The size of the PDNCDs was about 2.5 nm as given by the HR-TEM results. The PDNCDs were demonstrated to have high stability through zeta potential and TGA measurements. Their amorphous nature was explained from the results of XRD. The XPS, FT-IR and EDS measurements correlated well with each other in the characterization of functional moieties and elemental proportions of the PDNCDs. Raman spectroscopic and SAED results confess the graphitic nature of the PDNCDs. Studies with different solvents indicated that the properties of the PDNCDs can be fine-tuned. Finally, PDNCDs were found to have profound influence as catalyst in the NaBH4 reduction of Safranin-O, a phenazine dye, with the reduction completed within 6 min. The catalytic influence of PDNCDs could be elucidated on the basis of Langmuir- Hinshelwood mechanism.

中文翻译：

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印楝种子植物来源的氮掺杂碳点对番红-O染料NaBH4还原的影响

摘要 掺氮生物碳点已成为环境和医学领域各种应用的有希望的候选者。在目前的工作中，采用环保和热液路线从印楝种子合成高荧光植物衍生的氮掺杂碳点（PDNCDs）。制备的PDNCDs表现出高水分散性、优异的光学和荧光性能。如 HR-TEM 结果所示，PDNCD 的大小约为 2.5 nm。通过 zeta 电位和 TGA 测量证明 PDNCDs 具有高稳定性。从 XRD 结果解释了它们的无定形性质。XPS、FT-IR 和 EDS 测量在 PDNCDs 的功能部分和元素比例的表征中相互关联良好。拉曼光谱和 SAED 结果承认 PDNCD 的石墨性质。对不同溶剂的研究表明，PDNCD 的性质可以微调。最后，发现 PDNCDs 作为催化剂对 Safranin-O（一种吩嗪染料）的 NaBH4 还原具有深远的影响，还原反应在 6 分钟内完成。PDNCDs 的催化作用可以在 Langmuir-Hinshelwood 机制的基础上阐明。