title: Preparation, characterization and application of fluorescent terbium complex-doped zirconia nanoparticles.
abstract: Novel zirconia-based fluorescent terbium nanoparticles have been prepared as a fluorescent nanoprobe for time-resolved fluorescence bioassay. The nanoparticles were prepared in a water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion consisting of a strongly fluorescent Tb(3+) complex, N,N,N(1), N(1)-[2,6-bis(3'-aminomethyl-1'-pyrazolyl)-phenylpyridine]tetrakis(acetate)-Tb(3+)(BPTA-Tb(3+)), Triton X-100, hexanol, and cyclohexane by controlling co-condensation of Zr(OCH(2)CH(3))(4) and ZrOCl(2.) The characterizations by transmission electron microscopy and fluorometric methods indicate that the nanoparticles are uniform in size, 33+/- 4 nm in diameter, and have a fluorescence quantum yield of 8.9% and a long fluorescence lifetime of 2.0 ms. The zirconia-based fluorescent terbium nanoparticles show high stability against basic dissolution in a high pH aqueous buffer compared to the silica-based nanoparticles. A surface modification and bio-conjugation method for the fluorescent nanoparticles was developed, and the nanoparticle-conjugated streptavidin (SA) was used for time-resolved floro-immunoassy (TR-FIA) of human prostate specific antigen (PSA). The result shows that the zirconia-based fluorescent terbium nanoparticles are useful as a fluorescent nanoprobe for time-resolved fluorescence bioassay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, Peoples' Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Mingqian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Guilan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jingli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D015200:Fluoroimmunoassay; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D019809:Streptavidin / Q000737:chemistry; D013725:Terbium / Q000737:chemistry*; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013725:Terbium; D019809:Streptavidin; D015040:Zirconium; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen; C028541:zirconium oxide