Preparation, cytotoxicity and in vivo bioimaging of highly luminescent water-soluble silicon quantum dots

Abstract

Designing various inorganic nanomaterials that are cost effective, water soluble, optically photostable, highly fluorescent and biocompatible for bioimaging applications is a challenging task. Similar to semiconducting quantum dots (QDs), silicon QDs are another alternative and are highly fluorescent, but non-water soluble. Several surface modification strategies were adopted to make them water soluble. However, the photoluminescence of Si QDs was seriously quenched in the aqueous environment. In this report, highly luminescent, water-dispersible, blue- and green-emitting Si QDs were prepared with good photostability. In vitro studies in monocytes reveal that Si QDs exhibit good biocompatibility and excellent distribution throughout the cytoplasm region, along with the significant fraction translocated into the nucleus. The in vivo zebrafish studies also reveal that Si QDs can be evenly distributed in the yolk-sac region. Overall, our results demonstrate the applicability of water-soluble and highly fluorescent Si QDs as excellent in vitro and in vivo bioimaging probes.

Anti-cancer activities of allyl isothiocyanate and its conjugated silicon quantum dots

“…Endocytosis and exocytosis have been identified as major pathways for NPs entering and exiting the cells respectively. The endocytosed NPs are normally found in membrane bound organelles in the cytoplasm 42 , with fewer reported to be in the cytoplasm or other organelles such as nucleus 48 and endoplasmic reticulum 49 . Cellular excretion of NPs is generally realized through lysosomal secretion, which last from 0.5 to 48 hours according to different reports 50 .…”

Eco‐Friendly Colloidal Quantum Dot‐Based Luminescent Solar Concentrators

“…While relatively high PLQY of Si QDs has been achieved, it is still challenging to design and synthesize Si QDs with near‐unity QY . The mechanism of influence of the sizes and type of surface ligand on the optical properties of Si QDs have not been fully discovered . In addition, the Si QDs suffer from broad size distribution and scattering of emitted light which deteriorate the optical properties .…”

Facile green synthesis of silicon nanoparticles from Equisetum arvense for fluorescence based detection of Fe(iii) ions

“…The emission spectrum is in the UV/blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum with a maximum at 420 nm with full width half maximum (FWHM) of approximately 60 nm. 43,44 Furthermore, the emission spectra of the synthesized SiNPs were recorded for excitation wavelength ranging from 300 nm to 380 nm as shown in Fig. 3(b).…”