Centre for Nano and Material Sciences, Jain University, Bangalore 562112, Karnataka, India.
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9303, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Aug 31;14(34):38471-38482. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c08087. Epub 2022 Aug 17.
Perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) offer high photoluminescence quantum yields; however, due to their limited stability in aqueous media, to date their utilization in biomedical applications has been limited. The present work demonstrates highly fluorescent and stable aqueous PQDs that were synthesized using a facile engineered phase transfer method. Ligands were engineered to have a dual functionality, i.e., they could simultaneously mediate the strong binding of PQDs and the interactions with water molecules. The resultant water-soluble PQDs demonstrated robust structural and optical properties. The extracted aqueous PQDs remained stable in pellet form for 8 months, which was the entire test duration. Notably, 100% of their fluorescence was also retained. As a proof-of-concept experiment, the water-soluble PQDs were successfully tagged to polyclonal antibodies and used to image cells in aqueous media. No structural or optical disturbance in PQDs was detected throughout the process. This work marks the beginning of the use of nonpolymeric aqueous PQDs and shows their strong potential to be used in biological applications.
钙钛矿量子点 (PQDs) 具有高光致发光量子产率；然而，由于它们在水介质中的稳定性有限，迄今为止，它们在生物医学应用中的应用受到限制。本工作展示了使用简便的工程相转移方法合成的高荧光和稳定的水性 PQDs。配体经过设计具有双重功能，即它们可以同时介导 PQDs 的强结合和与水分子的相互作用。所得的水溶性 PQDs 表现出稳健的结构和光学性质。提取的水性 PQDs 在 8 个月的整个测试期间以颗粒形式保持稳定，这是整个测试期间。值得注意的是，它们的荧光也保持了 100%。作为概念验证实验，将水溶性 PQDs 成功标记到多克隆抗体上，并用于在水介质中对细胞进行成像。在整个过程中未检测到 PQDs 的结构或光学干扰。这项工作标志着使用非聚合水性 PQDs 的开始，并显示出它们在生物应用中具有很强的应用潜力。
