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A feasible method of improving the quantum yield of CdTe/CdS quantum dots by the first heating–cooling cycle and their application in cancer cell recognition

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Abstract

In this article, water-soluble CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized in aqueous solution with captosuccinic acid as stabilizer. The absorption and fluorescence spectra showed that the as-prepared QDs had good optical properties. It was observed that the quantum yield (QY) of QDs was greatly increased after a heating–cooling cycle (from 22 to 41%). Then, the QDs were used to prepare fluorescent probes. The experiment results showed that the transferrin (Tf) could conjugate to QDs effectively and the HepG2 cells could be recognized successfully. This study is of great significance for the preparation of high-quality QDs and their applications in life science.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30670553), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program: 2007AA10Z328). We also thank Analytical and Testing Center (HUST) for the help of measurement. This study was also supported by the Graduate Innovation Fund of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HF05222007170).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Jian-Hao Wang, Hai-Li Zhang, Yong-Qiang Li, Jiao-Ru Qian, Hai-Qiao Wang, Ting-Ting Xu & Yuan-Di Zhao

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  1. Jian-Hao Wang
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  2. Hai-Li Zhang
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  3. Yong-Qiang Li
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  4. Jiao-Ru Qian
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  6. Ting-Ting Xu
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  7. Yuan-Di Zhao
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Correspondence to Yuan-Di Zhao.

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Jian-Hao Wang and Hai-Li Zhang contributed equally to this study.

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Wang, JH., Zhang, HL., Li, YQ. et al. A feasible method of improving the quantum yield of CdTe/CdS quantum dots by the first heating–cooling cycle and their application in cancer cell recognition. J Nanopart Res 12, 1687–1695 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-9866-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-9866-9

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