Vol.:(0123456789) Research on Chemical Intermediates https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-019-03823-2 1 3 Graphene based emergent nanolights: a short review on the synthesis, properties and application Poushali Das 1  · Sayan Ganguly 2  · Susanta Banerjee 1,3  · Narayan Chandra Das 1,2 Received: 1 August 2018 / Accepted: 8 April 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract Graphene oxide (or graphene) derived graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are the pri- mary building blocks for nano-devices because of their superior electronic, ther- mal, optical and toughening (in matrix) characteristics. There are various meth- ods to prepare GQDs where “top-down” method has been practiced widely. This is a size reduction technique from micrometer sized graphene sheets to nanometer sized (< 10 nm) quantum particles with well-confined shape and quantum confine- ment effect. GQDs are emerging as promising optical materials for biological appli- cations. This review will project the detailed “top-down” method; rather such as molecular scissoring of graphene sheets to quantum dots, optical characteristics and applications. Keywords Graphene · Graphene oxide · Graphene quantum dots · Synthesis · Physical properties · Biological applications · Chemical properties Abbreviations AFM Atomic force microscope BCP Block copolymers CNTs Carbon nanotubes CVD Chemical vapor deposition DMF N,N-dimethylformamide DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide GO Graphene oxide GQDs Graphene quantum dots * Narayan Chandra Das ncdas@rtc.iitkgp.ac.in 1 School of Nanoscience and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India 2 Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India 3 Materials Science Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India