Photo-physical properties enhancement of bare and core-shell quantum dots
- Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Western University, London Ontario (Canada)
Semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) (also known as quantum dots, QDs) have attracted immense attention for their size-tunable optical properties that makes them impressive candidates for solar cells, light emitting devices, lasers, as well as biomedical imaging. However monodispersity, high and consistent photoluminescence, photostability, and biocompatibility are still major challenges. This work focuses on optimizing the photophysical properties and biocompatibility of QDs by forming core-shell nanostructures and their encapsulation by a carrier. Highly luminescent CdS and CdS-ZnS core-shell QDs with 5 nm sizes were synthesized using a facile approach based on pyrolysis of the single molecule precursors. After capping the CdS QDs with a thin layer of ZnS to reduce toxicity, the photoluminescence and photostability of the core-shell QDs was significantly enhanced. To make both the bare and core/shell structure QDs more resistant against photochemical reactions, a mesoporous silica layer was grown on the QDs through a reverse microemulsion technique based on hydrophobic interaction. This encapsulation enhanced the quantum yield and photostability compared to the bare QDs by providing much stronger resistance to oxidation and Oswald ripening of QDs. Encapsulation also improved biocompatibility of QDs that was evaluated with human umbilical vein endothelial cell lines (HUVEC)
- OSTI ID:
- 22265940
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1590, Issue 1; Conference: International conference on electronic, photonic, plasmonic and magnetic properties of nanomaterials, London (Canada), 12-16 Aug 2013; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
CADMIUM SULFIDES
ENCAPSULATION
INTERACTIONS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
OXIDATION
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PYROLYSIS
QUANTUM DOTS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICA
SOLAR CELLS
THIN FILMS
TOXICITY
ZINC SULFIDES