title: Facile synthesis of water-soluble Zn-doped AgIn5S8/ZnS core/shell fluorescent nanocrystals and their biological application.
abstract: Here we demonstrate a novel and facile strategy of highly luminescent water-soluble Zn-doped AgIn5S8 (ZAIS) nanocrystals and ZAIS/ZnS core/shell structures, which were based on hydrothermal reaction between the acetate salts of the corresponding metals and sulfide precursor in the presence of l-cysteine at 110 °C in a Teflon-lined autoclave. The photoluminescent (PL) emission wavelength can be conveniently tuned from 560 to 650 nm by tailoring the stoichiometric ratio of [Ag]/[Zn]. The as prepared nanocrystals were characterized systematically and exhibit long PL lifetimes more than 100 ns. The influence of experimental conditions, including concentration of l-cysteine and reaction temperature, was investigated. In addition, we performed a coating procedure with the ZnS shell outside the ZAIS core and showed excellent PL quantum yields up to 35%. The in vitro experiment exhibited quite low cytotoxicity and marvelous biocompatibility, revealing their promising prospect in bioscience. Furthermore, the obtained ZAIS/ZnS nanocompounds (NCs) were covalently conjugated to alpha-fetoprotein antibodies and targeted fluorescent imaging for hepatocellular carcinoma cells was realized.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Strongly-Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Heifei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Jiangluqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Tongtong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Tianyi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Huijie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tongyan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Wenting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xuecheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Mingya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ruixiang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007204:Indium / Q000737:chemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry; D012995:Solubility; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D015032:Zinc / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007204:Indium; D014867:Water; D012834:Silver; D013455:Sulfur; D015032:Zinc