biostudies-literatureZheng GSNational Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)2365https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10943204biostudies-literatureUnknown15(1)It remains a challenge to obtain biocompatible afterglow materials with long emission wavelengths, durable lifetimes, and good water solubility. Herein we develop a photooxidation strategy to construct near-infrared afterglow carbon nanodots with an extra-long lifetime of up to 5.9 h, comparable to that of the well-known rare-earth or organic long-persistent luminescent materials. Intriguingly, size-dependent afterglow lifetime evolution from 3.4 to 5.9 h has been observed from the carbon nanodots systems in aqueous solution. With structural/ultrafast dynamics analysis and density functional theory simulations, we reveal that the persistent luminescence in carbon nanodots is activated by a photooxidation-induced dioxetane intermediate, which can slowly release and convert energy into luminNature communicationsPhotooxidation triggered ultralong afterglow in carbon nanodots.PMC1094320412261141661Lou QLiu KKLi PFDong LZang JHNiu CYCheng ZShi XJZheng GSShen CLShan CXJiang TCSong RWLv CFDeng YfalsePhotooxidation triggered ultralong afterglow in carbon nanodots.It remains a challenge to obtain biocompatible afterglow materials with long emission wavelengths, durable lifetimes, and good water solubility. Herein we develop a photooxidation strategy to construct near-infrared afterglow carbon nanodots with an extra-long lifetime of up to 5.9 h, comparable to that of the well-known rare-earth or organic long-persistent luminescent materials. Intriguingly, size-dependent afterglow lifetime evolution from 3.4 to 5.9 h has been observed from the carbon nanodots systems in aqueous solution. With structural/ultrafast dynamics analysis and density functional theory simulations, we reveal that the persistent luminescence in carbon nanodots is activated by a photooxidation-induced dioxetane intermediate, which can slowly release and convert energy into lumin2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Mar2025-04-26T22:56:50.649Z2025-04-06T17:26:33.175ZS-EPMC109432043849101210.1038/s41467-024-46668-z