Fig. 2: The formation process and fluorescence characterization.

TEM images of crosslinked melamine at 200 °C (a), CNDs formed at 300 °C (b) and CNDs formed at 400 °C (c). The insets are the size distributions and high-resolution TEM images of the CNDs. d Schematic diagram of the formation mechanism of the CNDs under different conditions. Excitation-fluorescence mapping profiles of crosslinked melamine@Na2CO3 (e), CNDs-1@NaCNO (f), and CNDs-2@NaCNO (g). h The corresponding UV–vis, PL emission spectra of the crosslinked melamine@Na2CO3, CNDs-1@NaCNO, and CNDs-2@NaCNO