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Although several methods on the preparation of carbon nanodots (CNDs) emitting throughout the visible have been recently reported, in most of the processes the product suffers from inhomogeneity in size and shape limiting their impact. Here, we report the synthesis of undoped and nitrogen-doped luminescent carbon nanodots by rapid pyrolysis using ordered mesoporous silica nanorods as confining templates. A rapid thermal decomposition (pyrolysis) within the confined dimensions of their pores leads to a highly uniform size distribution of CNDs with average sizes below 4 nm. These CNDs are synthesized in an extremely short time period (5 min of reaction) by immersion in a fluidized-bed reactor that provides heating homogeneity and ensures fast heat transfer. In addition, a rapid release of the homogeneous CNDs can be easily achieved by a simple ultrasonication-filtration step that prevents further chemical action on the mesoporous templates. The emission of both undoped and N-doped CNDs in colloidal and solid state (with an efficiency of 1–5%) originates from a combination of quantum confinement effects and the presence of oxidized surface states; N-doping introduces resonant absorption states which participate in emission. Furthermore, we present a simple model to describe the excitation-dependent/-independent mechanism of carbon nanodots.

Luminescent carbon nanodots (CNDs) have been obtained by hydrothermal processing of ascorbic acid (AA) and ethanolamine (EN). The resulting N-doped carbon nanostructures exhibit interesting and tunable emission capabilities with a dual behavior as down-converters and more importantly, as up-converting quantum dots. Herein, we also evaluate the optical response of these CNDs to selectively generate highly reactive oxidative hydroxyls ( OH) upon irradiation with different light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the visible–NIR range. Finally, the role of the N-doped CNDs as nano-sensitizers to maximize the solar light harvesting and expand the photo-catalytic response of a commonly used UV-active catalyst such as TiO2 was successfully tested in the degradation of an organo-chlorinated compound under visible light.

Gold nanorods coated with a uniform titanium dioxide nanoshell have been prepared and used as glucose-oxidase surrogates. Remarkably, this core–shell photocatalytic nanostructure has been able to induce complete oxidation of glucose at near room temperature (32–34 °C) in a wide range of pH values with the aid of a near-infrared (NIR) irradiation source. In contrast, the uncoated gold nanorods exhibit negligible photo-oxidation response under identical experimental conditions thereby proving the photoactivity of the titania shell towards glucose oxidation. The process takes place via in situ photo-generation of singlet oxygen or hydroxyl radicals as reactive oxidative species (ROS). This underlines the role played by the core nanorods as plasmonic light harvesters in the NIR range and constitutes the first example of a NIR-activated enzyme-like catalyst.