Advanced optical applications of fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots) require highly integrated host-guest solid-state materials with a careful design of C-dots – matrix interface to control the optical response. We have developed a new synthesis based on the grafting of an organo-functional silane (3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, GPTMS) on amino-functionalized C-dots, which enables the fabrication of highly fluorescent organosilica-based hybrid organic-inorganic films through sol-gel process. The GPTMS grafting onto C-dots has been achieved via an epoxy–amine reaction under controlled conditions. Besides providing an efficient strategy to embed C-dots into a hybrid solid-state material, the modification of C-dots surface by GPTMS allows tuning their photoluminescence properties and gives rise to an additional, intense emission around 490 nm. Photoluminescence spectra reveal an interaction between C-dots surface and the polymeric chains which are locally formed by GPTMS polymerization. The present method is a step forward to the development of a surface modification technology aimed at controlling C-dots host-guest systems at the nanoscale.

The present review is focused on a specific class of nanocomposites obtained through integration of graphene or carbon-based nanomaterials (such as carbon nanodots) with mesoporous inorganic or hybrid materials, obtained via template assisted self-assembly. The task of integrating graphene and carbon nanodots with a self-assembly process is still very challenging and this review shows some of the solutions which have been envisaged so far. These nanocomposite materials are an ideal interactive platform for developing innovative functional applications; they have a high capability of undergoing integration into advanced devices, which well exploits the advantage of tuning the wide properties and flexibility of the soft-chemistry route. A wide range of applications have been developed so far which span from sensing to electronics up to optics and biomedicine. Even though a large number of proof-of-concepts have been reported to date, an even greater expansion of applications in the field is expected to happen in the near future.

Adaptive surface wrinkles are demonstrated to exhibit a peristaltic motion and a size-selective transportation of micro-objects under thermal stimulus. The bilayered materials made of thermoresponsive poly(N-iso-propylacrylamide) and hybrid silica form responsive wrinkles of submillimeter dimensions with temperature variation. This hydrogel-based actuation works in a near-physiological environment, which meets the critical requirement for artificial alternatives in bioapplications.