ABSTRACT
Carbon dots (CDs) are a new class of the nanocarbon materials displaying a wide range of significant advantages such as low toxicity, chemical inertness, good water solubility, and physicochemical properties. They are very small particles often below 10 nm in size. CDs are of much interest in fields of nanomedicine, optoelectronics, biomedical, energy storage, and sensing. These are attributed to their excellent optical properties especially the intense and tunable luminescence and the easiness to modify their photolumines-cence by means of functionalization and doping. Global energy issues have led the utilization of natural or renewable raw materials for the synthesis of CDs in order to minimize environmental pollution and toxicity. This chapter demonstrates the use of various natural sources as carbon precursor for the synthesis of CDs. The structural and optical properties of green CDs are also discussed.
