Abstract
Near-infrared (NIR) luminescent CuInS2-ZnS alloyed nanocrystals (CIZS-NCs) for highly fluorescence bioimaging have received considerable interest in recent years. Owing, they became a desirable alternative to heavy-metal based-NCs and organic dyes with unique optical properties and low-toxicity for bioimaging and optoelectronic applications. In the present study, bright and robust CIZS-NCs have been synthesized within 5 min, as-high-as 230 °C without requiring any inert-gas atmosphere via microwave-solvothermal (MW-ST) method. Subsequently, the in vitro and in vivo nano-xenotoxicity and cellular uptake of the MUA-functionalized CIZS-NCs were investigated in L929, Vero, MCF7 cell lines and zebrafish-embryos. We observed minimal toxicity and acute teratogenic consequences upto 62.5 μg/ml of the CIZS-NCs in zebrafish-embryos. We also observed spontaneous uptake of the MUA-functionalized CIZS-NCs by 3 dpf older zebrafish-embryos that are evident through bright red fluorescence-emission at a low concentration of 7.8 μg/mL. Hence, we propose that the rapid, low-cost, large-scale “sustainable” MW-ST synthesis of CIZS-NCs, is an ideal bio-nanoprobe with good temporal and spatial resolution for rapid labeling, long-term in vivo tracking and intravital-fluorescence-bioimaging (IVBI).
Highlights
The other hand, the “sustainable and bright-luminescent” I-III-VI2 inorganic-semiconducting CuInS2-based NCs has been proposed for in vitro and in vivo bioimaging and diagnostic applications[10,11,12,13]
Cu-S bond is weaker than In-S, that substantially vary the stoichiometry between Cu+ and In3+ during the NCs synthesis, which results in off-stoichiometry and phase complexity to induce structural defects[15,16]
It is important to investigate the surface functionalization of the capping ligands that tend to associate with surface of the atoms. In these CIS and CIZS-NCs, we have introduced DDT in the microwave-assisted solvothermal (MW-ST) synthesis method allowing for the possibilities of DDT-functionalization on the surface of the atoms
Summary
The other hand, the “sustainable and bright-luminescent” I-III-VI2 inorganic-semiconducting CuInS2-based NCs has been proposed for in vitro and in vivo bioimaging and diagnostic applications[10,11,12,13]. Most of the CIZS-alloyed NCs exhibit quantum yield (QY) of
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