Femtosecond Laser-assisted Fabrication of Fluorescent Boron Nitride Quantum Dots

As a kind of heavy metal-free quantum dot, boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) have attracted great interest due to their unique optical properties. Although there many synthesis methods of BNQDs, most of them require complex or time-consuming procedures, which limits the application of BNQDs. Here, we present a facile synthesizing method of few-layer BNQDs, which is based on liquid-phase ultra-short laser pulse ablation and ultrasonic-assisted exfoliation methods. The fabricated BNQDs are systematically characterized by atomic force microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The products possess an average size of about 2.1 nm with few-layer thickness. Because of the abundant surface functional groups, the BNQDs show bright luminescence emission under UV light irradiation.