CNOs, or carbon nano-onions, are by no means an exception. CNOs, which resemble cages within cages, are nanostructures that were first reported in 1980 and are made up of fullerene concentric shells. They have several desirable characteristics, including a large surface area and strong electrical and thermal conductivities.
The group, which involved Associate Professor Takashi Shirai, Master’s student Kai Odachi, and Assistant Professor Yunzi Xin, created a method of synthesis in which fish scales, which are removed from fish waste after washing, are quickly transformed into CNOs by microwave pyrolysis. The surface of CNOs made using traditional procedures, which is normally bare and requires further processes to functionalize, contrasts sharply with this.
The CNOs exhibit ultra-bright visible-light emission with an efficiency of 40%. This value, which has never been achieved before, is about 10 times higher than that of previously reported CNOs synthesized via conventional methods.