Encapsulation efficiency of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots by liposomes determined by thermal lens microscopy.
In this study the encapsulation of core shell carboxyl CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) by phospholipids liposome complexes is presented. It makes the quantum dots water soluble and photo-stable. Fluorescence self-quenching of the QDs inside the liposomes was observed. Therefore, the thermal lens microscopy (TLM) was found to be an useful tool for measuring the encapsulation efficiency of the QDs by the liposomes, for which an optimum value of 36% was determined. The obtained limit of detection (LOD) for determining QDs concentration by TLM was 0.13 nM. Moreover, the encapsulated QDs showed no prominent cytotoxicity toward Breast cancer cells line MDA-MB-231. This study was supported by UV-visible spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and dynamic light scattering measurements (DLS).
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, México D.F. 11500, Mexico.
Jessica
J
Batalla
SPIE-ICTP Anchor Research Laboratory, International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Strada Costiera 11, Trieste 34151, Italy ; Centro Multidisciplinario de Ciencias, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Mérida 5101, Venezuela.
Humberto
H
Cabrera
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, México D.F. 11500, Mexico.
Eduardo
E
San Martín-Martínez
Laboratory for Environmental Research, University of Nova Gorica,, Vipavska 13, 5000 Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Dorota
D
Korte
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, México D.F. 11500, Mexico.
Antonio
A
Calderón
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, México D.F. 11500, Mexico.
Ernesto
E
Marín
(170.0110) Imaging systems; (170.0180) Microscopy; (170.1530) Cell analysis; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (350.6830) Thermal lensing