Surface grafting of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles with polystyrene via atom transfer radical polymerization

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (f-CNPs) were grafted with polystyrene using a “grafting from” method via atom transfer radical polymerization. The fluorescent carbon nanoparticles grafted with polystyrene (f-CNP-g-PSt) were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, gel permeation chromatography, dynamic light scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy. The synthesized f-CNP-g-PSt are fluorescent in solution or in the solid state with the appropriate excitation wavelength and exhibit better dispersibility and processability compared to f-CNPs.