2 research outputs found
Converting Waste Papers to Fluorescent Carbon Dots in the Recycling Process without Loss of Ionic Liquids and Bioimaging Applications
Recycling is a fascinating topic
in academia due to the environmental
and economic benefits in industries. In this paper, we report on the
method to recycle cellulose waste papers using a green (eco-friendly)
approach based on ionic liquids (ILs) where the regenerated cellulose
was converted to carbon dots (CDs). The addition of waste papers to
the IL, 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Amim]Â[Cl]), disrupted
the chemical arrangement of cellulose and completely dissolved the
waste paper under microwave irradiation. Subsequent cellulose regeneration
by an additional antisolvent, absolute ethanol, was carried out to
recover IL and obtain cellulosic materials’ units from waste
papers. Furthermore, we report a practical strategy to fabricate CDs
under microwave-assisted irradiation. The CDs made by the regenerated
cellulose (RC-CDs) were characterized by using analytical and spectroscopic
techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray
diffraction (XRD). Finally, we confirmed that RC-CDs exhibited low
cytotoxicity, which suggests RC-CDs acts as a promising fluorescent
probe for bioimaging