Strong Infrared Laser Ablation Produces White-Light-Emitting Materials via the Formation of Silicon and Carbon Dots in Silica Nanoparticles

White-light-emitting materials for the applications in display and lighting have widely been prepared by the rare earth with high photoluminescent efficiency and stability, but the short resource, high cost, and serious environmental concerns are the insurmountable barriers of rare-earth-based materials. Here, we report that strong laser ablation of common organosilica colloid can produce white-light-emitting silica nanoparticles. The instant high temperature and pressure induced by strong laser simultaneously caused the reduction of partial silica and the pyrolysis of carbon chains in the interior of silica nanoparticles, in which the rapid crystallizations of the silicon and carbon vapor led to the formations of silicon dots and diamond-like carbon dots in the silica matrix. Significantly, the resultant silica nanoparticles containing different sized silicon and diamond dots exhibited a wide fluorescence spectrum to display bright white light under UV excitation. Moreover, the light emission diode (LED) device prepared by using the ablated silica nanoparticles as light source gave off the warm white light with Commission Internationale de lEclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.34, 0.32). The strategy reported here opens a new window to the exploration of white-light-emitting materials through the very simple, inexpensive, and environment-friendly pathway.