▎ 摘　　要

Since its discovery in 2004, graphene and its derivatives have received extensive interest due to their exceptional electrical, thermal, mechanical and optical properties. Not only graphene but graphene quantum dots (GQDs) also are a major focus of academic as well industrial research due to their tunable bandgap, charge carrier selectivity, quantum confinement and fluorescence properties. Also, GQDs have the competence to bind with a large number of molecules/biomolecules via electrostatic interaction and/or 7C-7C stacking interactions, adequate water solubility, excellent biocompatibility and minimal toxicity. The GQDs wide bandgap and their flexibility to engineer its bandgap over an extensive range and carrier selectivity play a major role in catalysis and energy applications. The GQDs progress for particular applications has been reported in many review articles but a comprehensive review article on GQDs for their vast applications is not reported yet. In this review article, recent progress in GQDs is reviewed to provide a comprehensive understanding of synthesis and their potential applications in a variety of fields including biosensors, bioimaging, drug delivery, antimicrobial, phototherapy, photocatalysis, fuel cell, solar cell, energy storage and harvesting. First, GQDs synthesis strategies were discussed, followed by their excellent properties and recent advances in various applications. In the last section, current and future research directions of GQDs research are also discussed.