Survey of synthesis processes for N-doped carbon dots assessed by green chemistry and circular and EcoScale metrics

Abstract

Six of the most promising lab-scale synthesis process methodologies for N-doped carbon dots (NCDs) are selected and compared in terms of green chemistry and circular and EcoScale/Good-Manufacturing-Practice metrics. We compare a new innovative route, the low-temperature plasma-enabled synthesis of carbon dots, e.g., from citric acid and monoethanolamine, to more-established literature processes, such as thermochemical processes, from the same or other materials. Along with this study, the advantages and disadvantages of each method are depicted in manifold sustainability facets. It is shown how recycling/reuse of nonconverted starting materials and solvents can improve the sustainability profile. In addition, safety constraints, cost analysis, and energy consumption are considered. The analysis showed that the thermal process from citric acid and monoethanolamine gives the best performance with regard to the sustainability assessment chosen here. It has a material circularity indicator of 0.971, with an EcoScale factor of 56% and an E-factor of 5.56. In continuation of those results, the paper shows how the low-temperature plasma using the same materials and the same recycling strategy can be improved to come closer to the performance of its thermal counterpart. It has the best energy efficiency, while lacking so far in mass efficiency. From this study, we learned more about which of these methods are most promising for scaling-up and industrial manufacturing of N-doped carbon dots.