From waste to energy: luminescent solar concentrators based on carbon dots derived from surgical facemasks

The enormous increase in the consumption of personal protection equipment, such as facemasks, mainly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, has shone light on the metric tons of plastic waste that are released into the oceans, with dramatic environmental concerns. Here, we report on the preparation of carbon dots (C-dots) following an environmentally friendly synthetic strategy using surgical facemasks as the starting material. Such C-dots are highly photostable and luminescent and were used to prepare luminescent solar concentrators exhibiting - once connected to silicon photovoltaic panels - a remarkable solar-to-energy conversion of 6.1%. Our results could suggest a way both to alleviate the serious environmental problem and to produce low-cost materials for solar energy conversion purposes.