Eco-Friendly Processing for Engineering Bio-Safe Quantum Dots and their Interaction with Biological Systems

Abstract

Inorganic nanomaterials have gained attention for delivery vehicles, gene detection systems, labeling and therapeutic applications. Many efforts have been reported in the synthesis of heavy metal quantum dots (QDs), for long-term, real-time cell labeling applications. Exposure to these QDs in living tissue endanger several issues due to their chemical composition, artificial ligand and/or the employed solution routes. In particular, surface coating/stabilization of nanomaterials by chemical organic molecules, such as citrate have shown to trigger different interaction at cellular level [1]. However, it is still difficult to draw a definite conclusion. Therefore, other alternatives, taking into account the nanoparticles fabrication strategy and the minimum toxicity of the carrier itself, are crucial for potential success of nanomaterials in the clinical setting. [2,3] Owing to its biocompatibility and biodegrability, silicon based nanomaterials are ideal candidates for in vivo applications [4]. Here, we will report a safe engineering approach based on liquid phase pulsed laser ablation technique enabling the generation of photoemissive, highly pure (i.e. free of chemical ligand at the surface) silicon quantum dots. Furthermore, we will present the physicochemical interactions of these non-toxic nanotools having unique surface chemistry with biological systems.(1) Mu et al., Chem Rev., 114, 7740. (2014)(2) Intartaglia et al., Nanoscale, 4, 1271, (2012)(3) Rodio et al., J. Colloid Interface Sci. 465, 242 (2016)(4) Park et al, Nature Materials, 8, 331 (2009)