Publication date: 3rd July 2020
Water hyacinth is classified as an aquatic waste plants which cause a reduction of water flow rate
and an increasing in a water evaporation of rivers. In this work, Water hyacinth stem was utilized
as a carbon precursor for carbon quantum dot due to its high cellulose, crude proteins, and amino
acids. The CDs was synthesized by an one-pot gamma irradiation. The water hyacinth stem powder
was irradiated by gamma ray (60Co-source) as using deionized water as a media. The particle size of
CDs was determined in the nanometer by dynamic light scattering method. The FTIR technique also
confirmed the functional group on the surface. The colour solution of CDs was a yellow that exhibited
a new absorbance band in the range of 250-300 nm in UV-vis absorption spectra. Fluorescence spectra
showed a maximum emission wavelength at 440 nm with the excitation at 360 nm, and the emission
band depend on the excitation wavelength. Besides, the optical properties of CDs were produced by
gamma radiation compared to a hydrothermal method.