Abstract
Highly yield Cu2SnS3 nanocrystals (CTS NCs) have been attracted more attentions in these years, the CTS NCs with strong absorption in near-infrared (NIR) region which can serve as the contrast agent of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) imaging. These NCs can be synthesized by facile method, and exhibit a Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) peak in NIR region. The LSPR peak position of the CTS NCs depends on the ratio of copper to tin in the synthesis process. The highest intensity of LSPR at 1380nm when Cu:Sn ratio reach to 9:1. The TEM analysis and X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the formation of CTS NCs with an average size of 6nm and the structure is kesterite crystal phase. In order to apply the NCs in vivo and in vitro study, we used PEGylated phospholipid (DSPE-PEG) to modified NCs, and the colloidal stability and cell viability of DSPE-PEG CTS NCs are very suitable for the in vivo OCT imaging study. To quantitatively analyze the contrast effect of DSPE-PEG CTS NCs, the contrast agent was injected from the tail vein of ICR mice, then applied the SD-OCT system monitor the vein of the mouse pinna for 30 minutes. The results indicated that the DSPE-PEG CTS NCs created an obvious signal in the OCT imaging process, which provide the basis for the application of CTS NCs as the contrast agent for the bioimaging study.
Highlights
The morphology and size of the quantum dots were obtained with an FEI Tecnai G2 F20 S-TWIN transmission electron microscopy (TEM) operating at an accelerating voltage of 200kV
Because of the absorption intensity of CTS NCs (Cu:Sn=9:1) is stronger than the CTS NCs (Cu:Sn=5:1) at the same concentration, and the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) wavelength of CTS NCs (Cu:Sn=9:1) at 1380nm is more closer to the wavelength of the light source of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) system (1300nm), so in the further study of this paper we choose CTS NCs synthesized by Cu:Sn ration of 9:1
The colloidal stability of the DSPE-PEG NCs were monitored by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) technique at room temperature for 7 days, the NCs were dissolved in different pH buffer solution
Summary
Nanocrystals have witnessed a remarkable development because of their unique features.[1,2] All of the distinct advantages make nanocrystals suitable in a wide range of applications spanning from optoelectronics to biological application research.[3,4,5,6,7,8,9] With the development of the nanotechnology, more and more nanocrystals have been served as a biomarker candidate for cancer detection.[10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18] usually nanocrystals possess toxicity element, such as Cd, Pb, and Te. Attention in both research and biological detection.[36] In this way, nanocrystals become more stable and more biological compatibility. We encapsulated CTS by PEGylated phospholipid to allow nanocrystals more biological compatibility, the prepared modification CTS NCs were characterized, their stability, toxicity, optical properties and OCT detection were systemically evaluated
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