Preparation of water-soluble asphalt carbon dots and hyperchromic effect to Cr (VI)

Engineering Research Center of Advanced Coal Coking and Efficient Use of Coal Resources, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan 114051, China

^a email:gaolijuan@ustl.edu.cn
^b email: zhaoxuefei@163.com

Abstract

Water-soluble asphalt carbon dots (W-CDs) was prepared from medium - temperature coal tar pitch as raw material, via mixed acid oxidation, alkali solubilization and acid precipitation method. It was observed that as-prepared W-CDs were irregular particles with good water dispersibility and the particle size was controlled by the pH of the acid precipitation solution by a polarizing microscope. Infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the surface of the W-CDs was functionalized by hydrophilic and color-promoting functional groups, which had good water solubility; the thermal weight loss proved to be good thermal stability below 200°C; the fluorescence spectrum proved that the fluorescence emission peak position of the carbon dots appears red shift with increase of excitation wavelength, with fluorescence conversion property, and its emission light intensity decreases, belonging to non-resonant fluorescence type of direct jump fluorescence; UV spectrum proves that the addition of W-CDs can be chromium (VI) CrO₄^2- content The detection limit was increased from milligram to microgram; the molar absorptivity of CrO₄^2- was increased by 4 times. The experimentally optimized W-CDs-ultraviolet-viscometry method for measuring CrO₄^2- conditions: W-CDs to chromium ratio of 8:2, pH of 8, hexamethylenetetramine as a surfactant, and the solution was allowed to stand at room temperature for 45 min.