Publication

Abstract : Luminescent carbon-based nanomaterials hold great promise due to their stable photo-physical behaviour, biocompatibility and lower toxicity. This work involves economic and facile one-pot green synthesis of water-soluble nanostructures from lemon grass (LGNS) [Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf] as carbon source. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy confirmed the formation of LGNS with lattice spacing of 0.23 nm matching low-dimensional graphitic structures. The strong absorption exhibited at 278 nm could be attributed to л-states of sp 2 /sp 3 hybridisation in carbon nanostructures. Fluorescence spectroscopy of LGNS exhibited strong excitation-dependent emission properties over a broad range of wavelengths from 300 to 600 nm. Quantitatively, these LGNS were estimated to have quantum yield of 23.3%. Biomass derived LGNS could be potentially exploited for wide variety of applications like bioimaging, up-conversion, drug delivery and optoelectronic devices. To this extent, synthesised LGNS were used to image yeast cells via multicolour/multiexcitation fluorescence imaging.