Mohan Vaishnavi K, Srinivas Tanmayee, Gupta Ansh, Khedekar Vrushali, Llorca Jordi, John Teny Theresa
Department of Physics, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Goa 403726, India.
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Sancoale, Goa 403726, India.
ACS Omega. 2025 Aug 7;10(32):36697-36707. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.5c05954. eCollection 2025 Aug 19.
Developing a cost-effective synthesis route for NiO at room temperature with a low calcination temperature (∼200 °C) remains a significant challenge. This study presents a novel, eco-friendly approach for synthesizing zero-dimensional NiO quantum dots (QDs) via a simple coprecipitation method using minimal reagents and energy-efficient processing. The resulting NiO QDs are obtained in powder form, enabling easy handling, storage, and integration into various applications. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and Raman spectra confirm the presence of interstitial oxygen (O) and nickel vacancies (V), indicative of intrinsic defects. Temperature-dependent conductivity analysis reveals two distinct regions separated by half the Debye temperature (θ), suggesting the formation of small-polaron-like bound Zhang-Rice states. Furthermore, cytotoxicity studies conducted on A549 and HeLa cancer cell lines and L132 normal cells demonstrate selective toxicity toward cancer cells. These findings highlight the potential of defect-engineered NiO QDs for multifunctional applications, including optoelectronics and biomedicine.
在室温下以低煅烧温度（约200°C）开发一种具有成本效益的NiO合成路线仍然是一项重大挑战。本研究提出了一种新颖、环保的方法，通过简单的共沉淀法，使用最少的试剂和节能工艺来合成零维NiO量子点（QDs）。所得的NiO QDs为粉末形式，便于处理、储存并集成到各种应用中。X射线光电子能谱、光致发光和拉曼光谱证实了间隙氧（O）和镍空位（V）的存在，表明存在固有缺陷。温度依赖性电导率分析揭示了两个由德拜温度（θ）的一半分隔的不同区域，表明形成了类似小极化子的束缚张-赖斯态。此外，对A549和HeLa癌细胞系以及L132正常细胞进行的细胞毒性研究表明，对癌细胞具有选择性毒性。这些发现突出了缺陷工程化NiO QDs在包括光电子学和生物医学在内的多功能应用中的潜力。
