Fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) are admirable nanomaterials due to their superior optical properties and low cost.However,regulation of the emission colors in CDs for lighting device still remains a challenge.In this work,we developed a green hydrothermal method to obtain three emission colors of CDs using L-tyrosine (for blue CDs),o-phenylendiamine (for green CDs) and L-tyrosine/o-phenylendiamine mixture(for orange-red CDs).These CDs possess good water dispersibility,strong emission with high quantum yields,and excellent photostability.Furthermore,the resulting CDs were dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) matrix to yield solid state films,where the self-quenching effect in solid state was effectively avoided.A full-color light-emitting diode was fabricated by packing the CDs-PVA composites on the top of a UV-chip,which have superior potential applications in CDs-based solid-state lighting system.