Project I

Development of a C-dot Based Food Sensor

By
Mahima Baid (12616006029)
Sourav Dutta (12616006053)

Under the supervision of

<Sulagna Chatterjee>
Department of Chemical Engineering
Heritage Institute of Technology
Kolkata

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Acknowledgement
We express our sincere thanks to our guide Prof. (Dr.) Sulagna
Chatterjee for her inspiring guidance and sharing her experience and for
her exemplary perseverance and hospitality. We would like to admit our
deep sense of gratitude for her constant guidance and cooperation
throughout the work. We sincerely acknowledge her for extending her
valuable guidance, support for literature, critical reviews of reports and
above all the moral support she had provided to us during this project.

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 Certificate from Supervisor
This is to certify that the Project - I titled “Development of a C-dot
Based Food Sensor” was allotted to Sourav Dutta (12616006053)&
Mahima Baid (12616006029) 4th year students of B. Tech. in Chemical
Engineering of Heritage Institute of Technology. Following the
guidelines as prescribed in the B. Tech Curricula and Syllabi, the
candidates have carried out the project work by occasionally consulting
the undersigned and have prepared the report. In my opinion, this is a fit
piece of project work required to be submitted at the end of B. Tech 7 th
semester.

_______________________________________
Sulagna Chatterjee
Head of Department
Department of Chemical Engineering
Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata

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Table of contents

Section Topic Page No.

Abstract 3

1. Introduction 4-5

2.1 Materials 5

2.2 Methods 5

3. Result and Discussions 6

4. Workplan 7

5. References 8-9

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Abstract

An easy bottom–up method for the preparation of carbon dots has been developed by tuning the
carbonization degree of citric acid and dispersing the carbonized products into alkaline solutions
In the last decade, carbon dots (C-dots, CDs) or carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have attracted a
considerable amount of attention from the scientific community as a low cost and biocompatible.
In particular, doped C-dots have excellent fluorescent properties that have been successfully
utilized for numerous applications. We overview the recent advances on the synthesis of doped
C-dots derived from carbon-rich sources. In addition, we a discuss some challenges and outline
some future perspectives of this exciting material. The dispersal of C-dots in solid-state thin
films is important to further expand and reinforce their practical application.

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1. Introduction

Carbon dots were first discovered in 2004 during single-walled carbon nanotubes
purification. These C-dots can be described as quasi-spherical particles with sizes below 10
nm shows that the number of scientific publications related to C-dots rapidly raised starting
from 2005.The increased interest in these materials is related to several advantages of C-dots,
such as carbon source abundance, simple and low-cost synthesis process, biocompatibility,
and excellent fluorescent properties. In addition, C-dots are chemically stable, inert, form a
stable colloidal solution, and are highly resistant to photobleaching compared to traditional
fluorescent organic dyes and semiconductor quantum dots. Therefore, the fluorescent
properties of C-dots are widely utilized for sensing biomedical imaging [1–3], catalysis [4,5],
energy research [6,7], etc. Many synthetic procedures have been summarized elsewhere,
here, we briefly describe the development and advances in carbon dots research from the
early years of their discovery.

In the top-down method, carbon macromolecules are cut into smaller pieces followed by
various synthetic methods such as chemical etching [8], electrochemical carbonization [9],
laser ablation [10], microwave irradiation [11], arc discharge [12].Bottom-up methods
synthesize CDs from various small carbon molecules including citrates, carbohydrates, and
other green materials. In this method, it is easy to control the surface state, as well as the size,
of the CDs [13–15].The process is initiated from the carbonization of carbon precursors,
which occurs concurrently with dehydration via heat-treatment through hydrothermal,
microwave, pyrolysis methods in concentrated acids[16–18]and hydrothermal/solvothermal
[19,20].

Considering the enormous potential of C-dots for numerous applications, it is extremely

necessary to develop their large-scale synthesis. From this point of view, the hydrothermal
synthesis has become the most popular method due to its simplicity, low-cost, and high
efficiency. In this method, one simply heats carbon-rich compounds (sugars, organic
molecules) in a tightly closed vessel to initiate the carbonization process. For example, the
hydrothermal method was used to prepare highly fluorescent C-dots from orange juice [21],
glucose [22], banana juice [23], citric acid [24].

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 One of the most common synthesis methods for fluorescent carbon dots is the thermal
decomposition; the reaction pathway is, however, quite time consuming. For instance, several
intermediates form during the process and they also give rise to fluorescent species. In the
present work, the formation of fluorescent C‐dots from citric acid has been studied. The
understanding of the citric acid thermal decomposition reaction is expected to improve the
control and reproducibility of C‐dots synthesis.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Materials

2.1.1 Reagents used

Citric acid can exist either in an anhydrous (water-free) form or as a monohydrate. The
anhydrous form crystallizes from hot water, while the monohydrate forms when citric acid is
crystallized from cold water.

NaOH pellets Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic
compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium
cations Na+ and hydroxide anions OH−. Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkali
that decomposes proteins at ordinary ambient temperatures and may cause severe chemical
burns. It is highly soluble in water, and readily absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide from the
air.

2.1.2 Equipment used

In this work we have used Weighing machine, Furnace with a temperature, Ph meter,
Magnetic stirrer, and UV tubes (a handheld apparatus).

2.2. Method

The carbon dots were prepared by directly pyrolyzing citric acid (CA). In a typical procedure
of, 15g CA was put into a 25ml crucible and heated to 200˚C in a furnace. About 5 min later,
the CA was liquated. Subsequently, the colour of the liquid was changed from colourless to
pale yellow, and then orange in 30 min, implying the formation of carbon dots. If the heating
was kept on, the orange liquid would finally turn to black solid in about 2h, suggesting the
formation of graphene oxides. The obtained orange liquid was transferred from crucible to a

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 50ml beaker and kept on a magnetic stirrer at a temperature 60°C and 900 rpm. Initial pH of
the obtained orange solution was recorded as 3.50. NaOH solution was prepared by adding
5g of NaOH pellets in 10ml of H2O.The prepared NaOH was added drop by drop into the
obtained orange liquid which was kept under continuous and vigorous stirring. After adding
each drop pH is recorded in the interval of 5 seconds. It took almost 30 min to neutralize the
pH..Then the neutralized solution of volume 10ml is transferred into the test tube and we
checked the fluorescence of the neutralised solution using UV light enclosed in a transparent
glass tube of length 30cm.It is a handheld apparatus. We covered the whole tube using
aluminium foil except a small portion for focusing all the UV light on the solution containing
c-dot and eliminating all other light sources.

3.Results and Discussion

C-dots can be a versatile material for future biomedical and sensing applications thanks to the
unique fluorescent properties, excellent biocompatibility, and high aqueous stability. The
formation of carbon dots was successful. But neutralizing the pH of the orange solution was a
tedious process and needs a standardisation which can be achieved only by repeating the
experiment and setting a NaOH concentration instead of trial and error. In present work, the
obtained orange solution emitted green fluorescence when checked by UVtube but we were
unable to get digital and measured value. So, in future, we are planning to develop a hand held
fluorescence meter and a sensor for the desired and digital results. A handheld fluorescence
meter is light-weight and portable, the system can be easily carried away in the field so that can
we can get on site results and dependency on the laboratory and service time will be reduced.
Also, it is a single-handed operation and it is relatively cheaper than other equipment.

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4.Workplan

WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Cleaning of
equipment’s

Literature
Review

Formation of
citric acid
solution

Carbonisation
process and
thermal
decomposition

Preparing
NaOH
Solution and
titration

Continuous
stirring and
neutralizing
the pH

Standardising
the
experiment

Reference

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