Synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanostructures from polyurethane sponge for bioimaging and catalysis.

A facile and environmentally friendly method was developed for the fabrication of N-doped carbon nanomaterials by hydrothermal treatment using polyurethane (PU) sponge as a carbon source. We have demonstrated that the hydrothermal decomposition of PU sponge involves top-down hydrolysis and bottom-up polymerization processes for the synthesis of N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs). Fluorescence spectroscopy and cytotoxicity studies indicated that these highly-soluble N-CDs show excellent photoluminescence properties and low cytotoxicity, and can be used as good probes for cellular imaging. Additionally, the N-doped hollow carbon nanostructures can be designed using a simple template method. The prepared N-doped double-shelled hollow carbon nanotubes exhibited excellent ORR electrocatalytic activity and superior durability. Indeed, our method described here can provide an efficient way to synthesize N-doped carbon-based materials for a broad range of applications.