Synthesis of color-tunable tannic acid-based carbon dots for multicolor/white light-emitting diodes

Multicolor luminescent carbon dots (CDs) were successfully prepared by a solvothermal method using tannic acid (TA) and phthalaldehyde as carbon sources. The distinct optical features of these CDs are based on differences in the sizes of sp2 domains, which can be governed by the structure of phthalaldehyde.