Abstract
Water-soluble Cu-In-Zn-S quantum dots (CIZS QDs) with orange fluorescence have been synthesized with a glutathione (GSH) as stabilizer via facile a one-step hydrothermal method. The optimal reaction conditions of CIZS QDs including temperature, time, pH, and the molar ratios of precursors were studied. TEM results indicate that the aqueous-dispersible CIZS QDs are quasi-spherical, and the average diameters are 3.76 nm with excellent fluorescent stability. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of CIZS QDs was investigated by the microcalorimetry combining with TEM and the IC 50 was 10.2 μM CIZS QDs showed a promising perspective in applications such as a fluorescent probe for bioimaging and biolabeling due to the low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility. Moreover, the CIZS QDs can distinguish Pb2+ ion from other ions, offering great potentials in lead ion determination in drinking water. According to the results of UV, XRD, FL, PL, and ITC methods, the mechanism of CIZS QDs-Pb2+ assay is due to hydrogen bonding or van der Waals forces in the formation of Pb2+ and CIZS QDs.
Highlights
Quantum dots (QDs), known as semiconductor nanocrystals, generally have a particle size of 2–10 nm (Liu et al, 2018; Bai et al, 2019)
Optical Properties CIZS QDs were prepared by a hydrothermal reaction between the nitrate salts of the corresponding metals and sodium sulfide as sulfide precursor at 120°C
We investigated the effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, pH value of reaction, and the molar ratio of different precursors on the fluorescence intensity of the synthesized QDs to confirm the optimum reaction condition
Summary
Quantum dots (QDs), known as semiconductor nanocrystals, generally have a particle size of 2–10 nm (Liu et al, 2018; Bai et al, 2019). The introduction of Zn ions in the ternary system CIS or CISe makes the CIZS or CISe system have good stability, narrow emission line width, wide spectrum adjustable range, and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQYs) (Xu et al, 2017; Bai et al, 2019). Due to their unique and excellent optical properties, quaternary system QDs are often used in lightemitting solar concentrators (LSCs), bioimaging and light-emitting diodes, sensors, and other fields (Deng et al, 2012; Niu et al, 2018; Wu et al, 2018; Hu et al, 2019). For different types of QDs, their unique properties are appropriately used for application research
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