Nitrogen and Phosphorus Co-Doped Carbon Dots for the Growth Promotion of Water Spinach

Carbon dots have received much attention due to their unique physicochemical properties and diverse applications in bioimaging, optoelectronic devices, catalysis, and agriculture. Here, in this work, we report a simple hydrothermal synthesis of nitrogen and phosphorus-doped carbon dots (N, P-CDs). The optical and physical properties of the synthesized N, P-CDs are analyzed using systematical spectroscopy and electrical characterization. The synthesized N, P-CDs show strong photoluminescence at 626 nm and demonstrate high stability under UV light and other conditions. Moreover, we incorporate the synthesized N, P-CDs into water spinach by root spraying and leaf spraying. It is found that N, P-CDs could effectively promote the growth of water spinach by accelerating the photosynthetic rate, and increasing the content of total phenols, anthocyanins, and flavonoids in water spinach.