Nanomaterials are generally classified into 4 categories according to their dimensions, such as 3D, 2D, 1D, and 0D, where D stands for dimension. Among these, 2D materials show unique properties such as high mechanical strength and excellent electronic conductivity mainly due to their large π electron delocalization. 2D materials find wide applications in the field of electronics, optoelectronics, and solar cells.[1] Graphene is considered as the first 2D material with excellent electronic properties and it paved the way for discovering various new carbon allotropes such as graphdiyne.[2,3] Graphdiyne was first reported by Li et al in 2010 using hexaethynylbenzene monomer and the material exhibited excellent conductivity (2.5 ×10-4 S m-1).[2,3] Followed by graphdiyne, pyrediyne was reported using Glaser-Hay coupling reaction of 1,3,6,8-Tetraethynylpyrene.[4] It was observed that pyrediyne exhibited better electronic and charge transport properties compared to graphdiyne. However, pyrediyne was non-luminescent presumably due to its negligible bandgap. We hypothesized that it is possible to prepare 0D luminescent counterparts of pyrediyne, which might exhibit improved photoluminescence properties. This idea was originated based on the observation that carbonbased QDs such as graphene QDs are known to be advantageous over their 2D counterparts mainly due to their stable photoluminescence.[5] We have utilized soxhlet extraction method as a successful pathway to prepare a new carbon based QD named as ‘pyrediyne QD’, which was luminescent as hypothesized. [6] Neither sophisticated instruments nor passivating agents were employed for the preparation which makes this two-dimensionally derived QD unique. The photoluminescent properties of pyrediyne QD were studied and the emission from the QD was utilized in cell imaging without any surface modifications. The seminar will provide an overview of the synthesis, properties, and applications of various carbon-based 2D materials, with emphasis to the recent results regarding the new material, pyrediyne QDs.

References
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