title: One-pot preparation of highly fluorescent cadmium telluride/cadmium sulfide quantum dots under neutral-pH condition for biological applications.
abstract: Water-soluble CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) with tuneable emissions were prepared in aqueous solution at pH=6-7 via refluxing and hydrothermal treatment. The resultant CdTe/CdS QDs are stabilized with mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) and show high fluorescence quantum yields (maximum QY is 84%). Characterization with UV-Vis, PL, XPS, XRD and TEM demonstrates a core (CdTe)-shell (CdS) structure, which leads to high fluorescence quantum yields. The effective protection from CdS shell and MSA enables CdTe QDs to be chemically stable in a pH range of 6-9 and less toxic. These merits make our CdTe/CdS QDs very promising for bio-imaging applications, as exemplified by labelling HEK 293 cells.
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Yian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Helen M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Gao Qing Max
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Zhi Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D013440:Sulfides; C034939:cadmium sulfide; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride