VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY TRUONG TUNG KHUONG STUDY ON SYNTHESIS OF NITROGEN-DOPED GRAPHENE QUANTUM DOTS AND THEIR OPTICAL PROPERTIES Major: Materials Engineering Major code: 8520309 MASTER'S THESIS HO CHI MINH CITY, December 2023 THIS THESIS IS COMPLETED AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – VNU-HCM Supervisor: Assoc. Tran Van Khai ……………………. Ha Thuc Chi Nhan ……………………. Vo Nguyen Dang Khoa …………………….
(Please fill in the examiner’s full name, academic rank and signature) This master’s thesis was defended at HCM City University of Technology, VNU- HCM City on December 14th, 2023. Master’s Thesis Committee: (Please write down the full name and academic rank of each member of the Master’s Thesis Committee) 1. Chair of Thesis Committee: Assoc. Nguyen Nhi Tru 2.
Ha Thuc Chi Nhan 3. Vo Nguyen Dang Khoa 4. Tran Thanh Tam 5. Pham Trung Kien Approval of the Chair of Master’s Thesis Committee and Dean of Faculty of Materials Technology after the thesis is corrected (If any).
CHAIR OF THESIS COMMITTEE DEAN OF FACULTY OF (Full name and signature) MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY (Full name and signature) Assoc. Nguyen Nhi Tru i VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM HO CHI MINH CITY Independence - Freedom - Happiness HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ASSIGNMENT Student’s full name: Truong Tung Khuong Student ID: 2170184 Date of birth: November 2nd, 1996 Place of birth: Tien Giang Major: Materials Engineering Major code: 8520309 I. PROJECT’S NAME: English name: Study on synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots and their optical properties. Vietnamese name: Nghiên cứu tổng hợp graphene chấm lượng tử pha tạp nitrogen và tính chất quang của chúng.
ASSIGNMENTS AND CONTENTS: 2. Overview Graphene oxide material, graphene quantum dot, doping nitrogen, hydrothermal method, optical property investigation, photodegradation experiment of methylene blue solution. Experiment - Synthesizing graphene oxide and nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (via hydrothermal method). - Investigating the effects of reaction temperature/time on the morphology, structure, and optical properties of the obtained nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots.
- Studying the effects of dimethylformamide on the synthesis outcome of graphene quantum dots. - Surveying the catalytic ability of graphene quantum dots in the photodegradation process of methylene blue solution. TASK HANDOVER DATE: February 2023 IV. TASK COMPLETION DATE: October 2023 V.
Tran Van Khai Ho Chi Minh City, …………. 2023 SUPERVISOR HEAD OF TRAINING DEPARTMENT Assoc. Tran Van Khai Assoc. Tran Van Khai DEAN OF FACULTY OF MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Assoc.
Tran Van Khai, for his sage guidance, profound wisdom, and patient mentorship during the research process. His scholarly dedication has been a guiding light throughout this research journey. I am also thankful to the members of my thesis committee for their valuable corrections and feedback that greatly enriched the quality of this work. Besides, I appreciate the support and suggestions from many of my labmates, which accelerated my experimental and writing tasks.
My sincere appreciation goes to my friends and family for their patience, encouragement, and understanding during the demanding phases of experimental work and thesis writing. Your unwavering belief in me kept me motivated. I am grateful to Department of Metal and Alloy Materials, as well as various resources and references that have guided my understanding and provided the foundation for this thesis. Lastly, I extend my gratitude to other individuals and organizations, whose contributions and cooperation made this research possible.
This work would not have been possible without the collective support and contributions of all those mentioned above. Ho Chi Minh, October 2023 Master's student Truong Tung Khuong iii ABSTRACT Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have emerged as promising nanomaterials due to their unique electronic, optical, and chemical properties, making them suitable for a range of applications. This thesis focuses on synthesizing GQDs derived from graphene oxide (GO) and investigating their optical properties. The modified Hummers' method was employed to produce GO, while GQDs were obtained by using a solvothermal method with the involvement of dimethylformamide (DMF).
The impacts of increasing heating temperature or interval were observed by synthesizing GQD samples with controlled conditions. The role of DMF in the synthesis procedure was clarified by comparing DMF-involved samples with reference samples in which DMF was replaced by double distilled water. Additionally, the study explored the performance of as-synthesized GQDs in the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under irradiation. Characterization methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and several spectroscopy techniques, like Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV-visible absorption and photoluminescence (PL), were employed to analyze the morphological, structural, and optical properties of the synthesized GQDs.
The PL results revealed that DMF-involved GQD solutions were excitation- dependent and showed the strongest peak with excitation of 380, 400 or 420 nm in the blue-green region. Experiments demonstrated the capability of GQDs to catalyze the photodegradation of MB solution with a degradation rate of ca. 25% after 120 minutes of exposure. iv TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN Chấm lượng tử graphene (GQDs) đã nổi lên như là vật liệu nano hứa hẹn do tính chất điện tử, quang học và hóa học độc đáo của chúng, làm cho chúng phù hợp cho nhiều ứng dụng khác nhau.
Luận văn này tập trung vào việc tổng hợp GQDs từ graphene oxit (GO) và nghiên cứu về tính chất quang học của chúng. Phương pháp Hummers cải tiến đã được sử dụng để chuẩn bị GO, trong khi GQDs thu được thông qua phương pháp solvothermal với sự tham gia của dimethylformamide (DMF). Ảnh hưởng của việc tăng nhiệt độ hoặc thời gian gia nhiệt đã được khảo sát thông qua việc tổng hợp các mẫu GQD với điều kiện kiểm soát. Vai trò của DMF trong quy trình tổng hợp đã được làm rõ bằng cách so sánh các mẫu thử nghiệm có sự tham gia của DMF với các mẫu tham chiếu mà DMF được thay thế bằng nước cất hai lần.
Ngoài ra, các thí nghiệm đã khám phá hiệu quả của GQDs trong quá trình phân hủy của dung dịch methylene blue (MB) dưới điều kiện chiếu sáng. Các phương pháp phân tích, bao gồm kính hiển vi điện tử truyền qua (TEM), nhiễu xạ tia X (XRD) và một số phương pháp phổ như Raman, Fourier chuyển đổi hồng ngoại (FTIR), hấp thụ tử ngoại – khả kiến và quang phát quang (PL), đã được sử dụng để phân tích tính hình thái, cấu trúc và tính chất quang học của GQDs được tổng hợp. Kết quả PL cho thấy rằng các dung dịch GQD có sự tham gia của DMF thể hiện sự phụ thuộc vào bước sóng kích thích và có đỉnh phát xạ mạnh nhất trong vùng ánh sáng lam-lục với sóng kích thích là 380, 400 hoặc 420 nm. Các thí nghiệm đã chứng minh khả năng của GQDs để xúc tác quá trình quang phân hủy của dung dịch MB với tỷ lệ phân hủy khoảng 25% sau 120 phút chiếu sáng.
v THE COMMITMENT OF THE THESIS’ AUTHOR I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been submitted for any other degree or diploma. Any ideas, data, or information obtained from other sources have been cited and referenced appropriately. The research presented in this thesis results from my independent work, and the conclusions and recommendations are based on my own analysis and interpretation of the data. I confirm that this thesis represents my own views and opinions, and that any opinions or views expressed by others are clearly attributed.
I acknowledge the support and guidance of my supervisor and committee members throughout the research process, but any errors or omissions in this thesis are my own responsibility. Thesis’s author Truong Tung Khuong vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. IV TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN. V THE COMMITMENT OF THE THESIS’ AUTHOR.
VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII TABLE OF FIGURES. XI TABLE OF TABLES. XVII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
Introduction to graphene quantum dots. Graphene and graphene oxide. Graphene quantum dots (GQDs). Light absorption ability of GQDs.
Photoluminescence (PL) properties of GQDs. Band gap of GQDs. Applications of GQDs. Bioimaging and biosensing applications.
Synthesis strategies of GQDs. Doping heteroatoms into GQDs. Reasons for using heteroatoms to modify GQDs. Impacts of doping nitrogen into GQDs.
The photodegradation of methylene blue (MB). General information about MB. Photocatalysis for decomposing MB. Research status and urgency of research.
Urgency of research. Objectives and Contents. Approaches for material synthesis. Novelty and major contributions.
29 FACILITIES AND EXPERIMENTS. Laboratory apparatuses for materials production and sample preparation. Teflon lined hydrothermal autoclave. Magnetic laboratory stirrer.
UV LED panel. Ultrasonic cleaning unit. Rotary evaporator system. Instruments for material characterizations.
High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. UV-Vis spectroscopy. Synthesis of GO.
Synthesis of GQDs. Testing catalytic efficiency of GQDs via the photodegradation of MB. 50 SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION RESULTS. Visual results of GO synthesis.
Characteristics of as-synthesized GO. Visual results of GQDs synthesis. Size and shapes of GQDs. Impacts of hydrothermal time on GQDs’s properties.
XRD patterns of Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 and Q2r. Raman spectra of Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. FTIR spectra of Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. UV-Vis analysis of Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4.
PL results of Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. Mechanism of PL. Mechanism of photodegradation of MB. Results of catalyzing the photodegradation of MB by GQDs.
Impacts of hydrothermal temperature on GQDs’ properties. XRD patterns of Q3, Q5 and Q6. Raman spectra of Q3, Q5 and Q6. FTIR spectra of Q3, Q5 and Q6.
UV-Vis analysis of Q3, Q5 and Q6. PL results of Q3, Q5 and Q6. Results of catalyzing the photodegradation of MB by GQDs. 111 x TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1.
UV-Vis absorption spectra of GQDs dispersed in water, featuring an average size of 12, 17, and 22 nm, alongside a graphene sheet for comparison. The filled circles on the absorption spectra represent the positions of the absorption peaks for GQDs. The inset graph presents the relationship between the absorption peak energy and the average size of GQDs. According to Kim et al.
UV−Vis spectra of GQDs A, B, and C, corresponding to synthesized reaction temperature at 120, 100, and 80°C, respectively. The inset is a photograph of these GQDs under the excitation of 365 nm UV light. According to Peng et al. Illustrative scheme demonstrating the measured results and analysis of GQDs based on size and morphology.
According to Tian et al. (a) Chart of size distributions of 4 GQDs samples determined by TEM. (b) The plots depicting band gap enlargement with the shrink of the size of GQDs; the inset shows the PL colors corresponding to the size of GQDs. According to Ye et al.
Optimized structure of the smallest unit of four GQDs types (left). The graph demonstrating the energy gap as a function of the total number of conjugated carbon atoms corresponding to 4 types of morphologies (right). According to Mandal et al. Inherent effects, properties, and corresponding applications of GQDs [31].
Proposed explanation for the roles of DOX/GQD conjugates in DOX delivery. According to Wang et al. Scheme showing the synthesis of DOX-loaded HER-labeled GQD-based nanocarriers and its drug release via cellular uptake for active targeting of breast cancer cells. According to Ko et al.
Raw materials and two major approaches for producing GQDs [31]. Bonding types of nitrogen atoms in N-GQDs. The model and the structure of MB molecule [153].