Liu Zhe, Hou Xiaoqi, You Huangpeng, Wang Zheng, Zhu Kaijie, Hu Xingyu, Li Peixian, Lu Xingchang, Wang Qingyu, Liu Zifeng, Hu Dongliang, Su Jiangtong, Dai Ning, Li Yang
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China.
State Key Laboratory of Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083, China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Feb 12;147(6):4778-4789. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c10731. Epub 2025 Jan 29.
Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are promising emitters for biological applications because of their excellent fluorescence, convenient surface modification, and photostability. However, the toxic cadmium composition in the state-of-the-art QDs and their inferior properties in the aqueous phase greatly restrict further use. The performance of water-soluble indium phosphide (InP) QDs lags far behind those of Cd-containing counterparts due to the lack of effective surface protection. Here, we present an efficient copassivation strategy via dual hydrophilic ligands to achieve water-soluble InP-based QDs with ideal optical properties. A record photoluminescence quantum yield of near-unity and monoexponential decay dynamics for water-soluble InP-based QDs are achieved. For the first time, we realize a single water-soluble InP-based QD with significantly suppressed blinking. Furthermore, the novel QDs exhibit superior cellular imaging capabilities and high resistance to photobleaching compared with commonly used organic dyes. The results presented here will inspire the development of environmentally friendly water-soluble QDs as a promising class of fluorescence labels for biological applications.
胶体量子点（QDs）因其出色的荧光特性、便捷的表面修饰和光稳定性，在生物应用中是很有前景的发光体。然而，现有技术水平的量子点中含有的有毒镉成分及其在水相中的不良性质极大地限制了其进一步应用。由于缺乏有效的表面保护，水溶性磷化铟（InP）量子点的性能远远落后于含镉的同类量子点。在此，我们提出一种通过双亲水配体的高效共钝化策略，以实现具有理想光学性质的水溶性InP基量子点。水溶性InP基量子点实现了创纪录的接近单位的光致发光量子产率和单指数衰减动力学。首次实现了单个水溶性InP基量子点的闪烁显著抑制。此外，与常用有机染料相比，新型量子点表现出卓越的细胞成像能力和高光漂白抗性。本文展示的结果将激发环保型水溶性量子点的开发，作为一类有前景的生物应用荧光标记。
