Abstract
Here we present a facile one-pot method to prepare high-quality CdTe nanocrystals in aqueous phase. In contrast to the use of oxygen-sensitive NaHTe or H2Te as Te source in the current synthetic methods, we employ more stable sodium tellurite as the Te source for preparing highly luminescent CdTe nanocrystals in aqueous solution. By selecting mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) as capping agent and providing the borate-citrate acid buffering solution, CdTe nanocrystals with high quantum yield (QY >70% at pH range 5.0–8.0) can be conveniently prepared by this method. The influence of parameters such as the pH value of the precursor solution and the molar ratio of Cd2+ to Na2TeO3 on the QY of CdTe nanocrystals was systematically investigated in our experiments. Under optimal conditions, the QY of CdTe nanocrystals is even high up to 83%. The biological application of luminescent MSA-CdTe to HEK 293 cell imaging was also illustrated.
Highlights
Semiconductor nanocrystals have been attracting wide interest due to their various potential applications such as in optoeletronic devices [1], photovoltaic devices [2], and biological fluorescence labeling [3]
Luminescent Quantum dots (QDs) are ideal fluorophores for multiplexed optical coding because their fluorescence emission wavelength can be continuously tuned by changing the particle size, and a single wavelength can be used for simultaneous excitation of QDs with different sizes [11,12,13]
By properly selecting thiol stabilizers like glutathione [34,35] or mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) [36], the QYs of CdTe NCs prepared in the aqueous solution could be improved significantly (45%,67%)
Summary
Semiconductor nanocrystals (often known as quantum dots) have been attracting wide interest due to their various potential applications such as in optoeletronic devices [1], photovoltaic devices [2], and biological fluorescence labeling [3]. By properly selecting thiol stabilizers like glutathione [34,35] or mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) [36], the QYs of CdTe NCs prepared in the aqueous solution could be improved significantly (45%,67%).
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