Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS Quantum Dots
Product Description
Alfa Chemistry offers Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS quantum dots, which are cadmium-free, hydrophobic core-shell structured nanocrystals with a core of zinc copper indium sulfide and an outer core encapsulated in zinc sulfide.The spectral emission wavelengths of Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS quantum dots range from 530 nm to 700 nm. They are highly luminous inorganic particles that are soluble in various organic solvents, such as toluene.
Applications
Cell Labeling
Yang et al. synthesized gradient core-shell Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with small size and efficient photoluminescence by a multistep high-temperature method involving cation exchange. The process starts with the preparation of indium sulfide nanoparticles followed by the addition of copper and zinc precursors. At this stage, Zn replaces Cu atoms, so that the concentration of Cu ions in the final QD is only about 5% of the total In content in the QD. the addition of Zn and the formation of gradient ZnS shells greatly increase the quantum yield of photoluminescence. In addition, the formation of ZnS shells improved the chemical stability of Cu-In-S QDs, as demonstrated in the preparation of polystyrene-QD composites and the labeling of glioma cells.
Fig.1 Bright field (a), (c) and fluorescence (b), (d) images of glioma C6 cells labeled with water-soluble Zn-Cu-In-S QDs (sample S5) encapsulated with chemically modified PMAT. (Yang et al., 2019)
Bioimaging
Guo et al. reported a simple strategy to synthesize Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS (ZCIS/ZnS) core/shell QDs to address the synthesis of CuInS2-based nanocrystals with unexpected blue shift. In this strategy, Zn2+ ions are intentionally used to synthesize alloyed ZCIS core QDs prior to the ZnS shell coating, which helps to reduce the blueshift in photoluminescence (PL) emission. In addition, the obtained near-infrared (NIR) ZCIS/ZnS QDs were transferred to the aqueous phase by polymer coating technique and bound to cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp peptide (cRGD) peptide. After confirming biocompatibility by cytotoxicity assays on normal 3T3 cells, these QDs were injected via tail vein into nude mice carrying U87 MG tumors. The results showed that injection of ZCIS/ZnS-cRGD QDs detected a much more pronounced signal in the tumor region than injection of ZCIS/ZnS QDs.
Fig.2 In vivo NIR fluorescence imaging of U87MG tumor-bearing mice (arrows) injected with (a) ZCIS/ZnS QDs and (b) ZCIS/ZnS-RGD QDs. (Guo et al., 2013)
In Vivo Imaging
Guo et al. proposed a one-pot synthesis strategy aimed at the fabrication of hydrophilic Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS (ZCIS/ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) for direct in vivo imaging without surface treatment. The strategy is based on the use of a hydrophilic ligand (6-sulfanyl-1-hexanol, MPH) and a non-coordinating solvent such as low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW = 400 Da). Experimental results show that these so-called hydrophilic ZCIS/ZnS quantum dots display low cytotoxicity and are successfully used for in vivo imaging.
Fig. 3 TEM images of ZCIS QDs at different reaction times and the subsequently obtained ZCIS/ZnS QDs. (Guo et al., 2013)
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References
- Yang L. L., et al. Highly luminescent Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS core/gradient shell quantum dots prepared from indium sulfide by cation exchange for cell labeling and polymer composites[J]. Nanotechnology, 2019, 30(39).
- Guo Weisheng, et al. Synthesis of Zn-Cu-In-S/ZnS core/shell quantum dots with inhibited blue-shift photoluminescence and applications for tumor targeted bioimaging. Theranostics, 2013, 3(2).
- Guo, W. , et al. One-pot synthesis of hydrophilic ZnCuInS/ZnS quantum dots for in vivo imaging[J]. Rsc Advances, 2013, 3(24):9470-9475.
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