Synthesis of carbon dots with predictable photoluminescence by the aid of machine learning

Carbon dots (CDs) have wide application potentials in optoelectronic devices, biology, medicine, chemical sensors, and quantum techniques due to their excellent fluorescent properties. However, synthesis of CDs with controllable spectrum is challenging because of the diversity of the CD components and structures. In this report, machine learning (ML) algorithms were applied to help the synthesis of CDs with predictable photoluminescence (PL) under the excitation wavelengths of 365 and 532 nm. The combination of precursors was used as the variable. The PL peaks of the strongest intensity (λs) and the longest wavelength (λl) were used as target functions. Among six investigated ML models, the random forest (RF) model showed outstanding performance in the prediction of the PL peaks.