Publication date: 27th June 2014
Visual analysis of biomolecules is an integral avenue of basic and applied biological research. Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor inorganic nanoparticles that are emerging as alternative or complementary tools to the organic fluorescent dyes currently used in bioimaging. Although these QDs have great potential as probes for bioimaging, certain limitations may restrict their applications. Cytotoxicity strongly influencing is one of the major limiting factors for the application of II-VI QDs in efficient in vivo imaging. We propose silicon carbide (SiC) QDs for bioimaging in order to eliminate numerous disadvantages of traditional QDs. SiC is a stable, chemically inert wide band gap indirect semiconductor. Biocompatibility of bulk SiC and SiC QDs has been proven by several research teams. We developed a two-step experimental routine based on SHS synthesis and whet chemical etching for producing luminescence SiC QDs with high quantum yield. These SiC QDs are less than 3 nm in diameter and make stable colloid sol in polar solvents like water without the need of any surfactant or capping layer thanks to the surface termination that was studied by infrared spectroscopy. We demonstrate that the optical properties of SiC QDs are highly influenced by the chemical surface groups. Luminescence of SiC QDs was studied with time resolved luminescence spectroscopy on different surface terminated SiC QDs to understand the physic behind the complex luminescence process. The synthesis method and further chemical modification of the surface allow us to tune the optical properties and the sensitivity of the QDs making narrow luminescent peak or change the chemical environment sensitivity of the optical properties. Reduced surfaces show less pH sensitivity while carboxyl terminated SiC QDs have effective optical responds to pH change making them applicable for intracellular pH measurement or in harsh environment.
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