In situ preparation of fluorescent CdTe quantum dots with small thiols and hyperbranched polymers as co-stabilizers

Yunfeng Shi,Lin Liu,Tong Gangsheng,Zhimin Ma,Ningning Cui,Xiaoyu Hou,Weimin Du,Yanli Liu

doi:10.1186/1556-276x-9-121

Yunfeng Shi, Lin Liu + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1556-276x-9-121

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Abstract

A new strategy for in situ preparation of highly fluorescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and hyperbranched poly(amidoamine)s (HPAMAM) as co-stabilizers was proposed in this paper. MPA and HPAMAM were added in turn to coordinate Cd2+. After adding NaHTe and further microwave irradiation, fluorescent CdTe QDs stabilized by MPA and HPAMAM were obtained. Such a strategy avoids the aftertreatment of thiol-stabilized QDs in their bioapplication and provides an opportunity for direct biomedical use of QDs due to the existence of biocompatible HPAMAM. The resulting CdTe QDs combine the mechanical, biocompatibility properties of HPAMAM and the optical, electrical properties of CdTe QDs together.

Highlights

Fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) exhibit unique size and shape-dependent optical and electronic properties [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
The QDs prepared by organometallic way or aqueous route with small thiols as stabilizers usually have high quantum yield, but they need to be modified in order to be suitable for their biological application
hyperbranched poly(amidoamine)s (HPAMAM) have three-dimensional topological structures, many inner cavities, and a large amount of terminal functional groups. They have low cytotoxicity and have been widely used in biomedical science, such as gene transfections and drug delivery [24]. They can be used to prepare nanocrystals such as CdS nanocrystals, but they cannot cap the nanocrystals very compactly compared to small thiols

Summary

Background

Fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) exhibit unique size and shape-dependent optical and electronic properties [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. They are of great interest to many applications such as optoelectronics, photovoltaic devices, and biological labels. We would like to propose a new method by which highly fluorescent CdTe QDs which can be directly used for biomedical applications can be prepared. The resulting CdTe QDs can be directly applied to bioimaging, gene transfection, etc

Methods

Results and discussion

Conclusions

Alivisatos AP