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Traditional thermoelectric generators (TEGs) face scalability challenges due to high-temperature, long-duration curing processes and rare-earth/toxic chalcogenides such as bismuth telluride. 

Two platinum precursors, Pt(CO) 2 Cl 2 and Pt(CO) 2 Br 2 , were designed for focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) with the aim of producing platinum deposits of higher purity than those deposited from commercially available precursors. In this work, we present the first deposition experiments in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), wherein series of pillars were successfully grown from both precursors. The growth of the pillars was studied as a function of the electron dose and compared to deposits grown from the commercially available precursor MeCpPtMe 3 . The composition of the deposits was determined using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and compared to the composition of deposits from MeCpPtMe 3 , as well as deposits made in an ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) environment. A slight increase in metal content and a higher growth rate are achieved in the SEM for deposits from Pt(CO) 2 Cl 2 compared to MeCpPtMe 3 . However, deposits made from Pt(CO) 2 Br 2 show slightly less metal content and a lower growth rate compared to MeCpPtMe 3 . With both Pt(CO) 2 Cl 2 and Pt(CO) 2 Br 2 , a marked difference in composition was found between deposits made in the SEM and deposits made in UHV. In addition to Pt, the UHV deposits contained halogen species and little or no carbon, while the SEM deposits contained only small amounts of halogen species but high carbon content. Results from this study highlight the effect that deposition conditions can have on the composition of deposits created by FEBID. 

Multicolor carbon dots (CDs) have been developed recently and demonstrate great potential in bio-imaging, sensing, and LEDs. However, the fluorescence mechanism of their tunable colors is still under debate, and efficient separation methods are still challenging. Herein, we synthesized multicolor polymeric CDs through solvothermal treatment of citric acid and urea in formamide. Automated reversed-phase column separation was used to achieve fractions with distinct colors, including blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange and red. This work explores the physicochemical properties and fluorescence origins of the red, green, and blue fractions in depth with combined experimental and computational methods. Three dominant fluorescence mechanism hypotheses were evaluated by comparing time-dependent density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculation results to measured characteristics. We find that blue fluorescence likely comes from embedded small molecules trapped in carbonaceous cages, while pyrene analogs are the most likely origin for emission at other wavelengths, especially in the red. Also important, upon interaction with live cells, different CD color fractions are trafficked to different sub-cellular locations. Super-resolution imaging shows that the blue CDs were found in a variety of organelles, such as mitochondria and lysosomes, while the red CDs were primarily localized in lysosomes. These findings significantly advance our understanding of the photoluminescence mechanism of multicolor CDs and help to guide future design and applications of these promising nanomaterials.