title: Photo and pH stable, highly-luminescent silicon nanospheres and their bioconjugates for immunofluorescent cell imaging.
abstract: We report a novel kind of oxidized silicon nanospheres (O-SiNSs), which simultaneously possess excellent aqueous dispersibility, high photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY), ultra photostability, wide pH stability, and favorable biocompatibility. Significantly, the PLQY of the O-SiNSs is as high as 25%, and is stable under intense UV irradiation and in acidic-to-basic environments covering the pH range 2-12. To our best knowledge, it is the first example of water-dispersed silicon nanoparticles which possess both high PLQY and robust pH stability suitable for broad utility in bioapplications. Furthermore, the O-SiNSs are readily conjugated with antibody, and the resultant O-SiNSs/antibody bioconjugates are successfully applied in immunofluorescent cell imaging. The results show that the highly luminescent and stable O-SiNSs/antibody bioconjugates are promising fluorescent probes for wide-ranging bioapplications, such as long-term and real-time cellular labeling.
authors.affiliation: Functional Nano and Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Xiaobao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhenhui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Ruiqin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Shuit-Tong
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002470:Cell Survival; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008027:Light; D049449:Luminescence; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts / Q000737:chemistry; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts; D013844:Thiazoles; D014867:Water; C022616:thiazolyl blue; D012825:Silicon