Fig. 5. Proposed mechanistic stages shown schematically in the synthesis of carbon products, including CQDs and phase separation (e.g., 1-nonanol): (a) polymerization (dehydration condensation) of carbon precursors; an overall synthetic scheme in (b) methanol, (c) 1-butanol, and (d) 1-nonanol from the viewpoint of obvious morphological differences between synthesized CQDs (see inserted TEM images; red arrows in inserted TEM images indicate agglomerated CQDs).
