For carbon nanodots, simply heat soy milk for three hours. The milk undergoes carbonisation, surface functionalisation and doping
Water-soluble, nitrogen-doped fluorescent carbon nanodots (FCNs) have been made by simply heating soy milk. This cheap and green approach produces a carbon nanomaterial suitable for bioimaging applications, and has already shown promise as an electrocatalyst, say scientists in China.
There have already been several successful demonstrations using natural biomass as a precursor for producing nanomaterials. Inspired by these endeavours, Shaojun Dong and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a simpler, time-saving method for preparing bifunctional nanomaterials, in just three hours, using soy beans.
Read the full article in Chemistry World
Link to journal article
Bifunctional fluorescent carbon nanodots: green synthesis via soy milk and as metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction
C Zhu, J Zhai and S Dong
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc33844k
