Figure 2

Morphological and microstructural analysis of CQDs. (a) TEM image of CQDs at low magnification, inset: size-distribution histogram; (b) HR-TEM image of CQDs showing their nearly spherical morphology; (c) HR-TEM image of a CQD showing graphitic spacing; (d) FTIR spectrum. High-resolution XPS spectra of the deconvoluted (e) C 1 s peak and (f) O 1 s peak.