Synthesis of CuInZnS quantum dots for cell labelling applications

Abstract

Traditional fluorescence labelling always suffer from conformational change issues, due to the PH or temperature change in their local environment. Therefore, there is a pressing requirement to replace the traditional fluorophores with better ones. In this paper, the CuInS2-ZnS (ZCIS) quantum dots (QDs) are applied to cell labelling. The ZCIS QDs were prepared by a facile one-pot approach and demonstrated with high quantum yield of 22–33%. Additionally, phase transfer of the oleylamine-capped ZCIS QDs was performed with non-toxic, difunctional block copolymer (Pluronic F127). Cellular upconversion labelling of ZCIS QDs was performed using a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser. Encouragingly, most of the ZCIS QDs attached to cells successfully and remained photostable, which means ZCIS QDs show good potential for cell labelling applications.