A New Use for Coal:

Glowing Nanodots
Coal could be a source of cheap, nontoxic fluorescent
nanoparticles useful for biomedicine.
by Mike Orcutt
Dec 25, 2013
Coal can be turned into large volumes of glowing quantum dots, according to Rice
University researchers.

Glowing graphene: An electron microscope image shows fluorescent carbon

nanoparticles extracted from anthracite coal.
The new method could represent a very cheap way to produce fluorescent carbon
nanoparticles that could be useful in biomedicine, and especially in the imaging of
living human cells and tissues, says James Tour, a chemistry professor at Rice. Tour,
who led the research, says early tests suggest that the particles are nontoxic, and says
his group is working on developing the particles into fluorescent probes and drug-
delivery vehicles.

The researchers used sound waves to agitate three types of coal—bituminous,

anthracite, and coke—each treated with acid. They then heated the samples for 24
hours. The resulting particles, which range in size from two to 40 nanometers, were
made of several layers of graphene oxide, an atom-thick carbon compound with a
highly ordered structure. The size of the particles made from each type of coal was
distinct, and each size emitted a different color of fluorescence.

Tour and his colleagues say there is enough evidence to call the carbon particles
quantum dots. Quantum dots are nanoparticles in which electrons are confined to a
space smaller than their wavelength, a phenomenon which gives rise to fluorescence;
different-sized dots glow different colors when excited by a light source. Tour
acknowledges that future research might reveal the particles to be fluorescent due to
factors other than this phenomenon, but he says that wouldn’t change the potential
technological applications.

Graphene quantum dots have been made before, including from graphite and, more
recently, from carbon fibers. But these sources are more expensive than coal and yield
much lower volumes, says Tour.

Quantum dots made of inorganic semiconductors are beginning to appear in

televisions and tablets as a means of generating richer colors (see “Quantum Dots Get
Commercial Debut in More Colorful Sony TVs”).

Quantum dots are also useful for biological imaging (see “Quantum Dot Com”). They
can be used to observe molecular-scale structures and events within cells and tissues,
and tend to be brighter and maintain their fluorescence much longer than conventional
fluorescent dyes, which often only emit light for a few seconds. Further, since the
color of light emitted can be precisely tuned by adjusting the size of the dot, multiple
colors can be used to image different biomolecules simultaneously, using the same
light source. But while quantum dots have been used fairly extensively in animal
research models, the most common ones contain toxic metals, and haven’t been tested
in humans. Tour’s dots, which he says are nontoxic, could potentially be used in
humans.

There is a strong desire within the research community to test quantum dots in
humans, says Shimon Weiss, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA,
since in principle they could be used for precise imaging, diagnostics, and treatment
monitoring. An efficient, nontoxic probe would be a boon for the field. But it’s too
early to tell if Tour’s dots represent such a candidate, says Weiss.