1. In situ growth of Ag2S quantum dots on cellulose nanocrystals and their near-infrared bioimaging performance.
- Author
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Chu, Youlu, Xi, Jianfeng, Sun, Yan, Zhang, Lei, Xiao, Huining, and Wu, Weibing
- Subjects
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CELLULOSE nanocrystals , *QUANTUM dots , *FLUORESCENCE yield , *FLUORESCENCE resonance energy transfer , *SILVER sulfide , *HYBRID systems , *FLUORESCENT probes - Abstract
Elongated nanoparticles show distinct advantages over spherical nanoparticles in bioimaging because of surface area-to-volume, rate of clearance from the body and elimination mechanism. In this work, we investigated the fluorescence emission properties of the hybrid system by decorating silver sulfide quantum dots (Ag 2 S QDs) in situ on the surface of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) with unique rod shape, modifiability and biocompatibility. This water-dispersible fluorescent probe has both absorption and fluorescence in near-infrared (NIR) region. By varying the amount of surface ligands, uniformly dispersed Ag 2 S QDs with different crystalline states but similar sizes were prepared due to the anchoring effect of CNC. The fluorescence quantum yield of fluorescent probes can be improved up to 109-fold (from 0.04 % to 4.36 %). In addition, the CNC-restricted interparticle spacing of Ag 2 S QDs (< 10 nm), in combination with the overlap of wide fluorescence emission and ultraviolet absorption, significantly enhanced the 1070 nm emission in the NIR-II region via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Further conjugation of these CNC probes with folic acid-polyethylene glycol-amino (FA-PEG-NH 2) enables in vitro bioimaging of Hela cells, which are potentially applicable for in vivo cancer detection system. The synthetic strategy provides a new way for one-pot preparation of fluorescent probes with both high NIR-I absorption and NIR-II fluorescence. • Ag 2 S QDs were controllably loaded on CNC via in situ grown. • Both the absorption and fluorescence of the nanocomposite were located in the NIR region. • FRET between Ag 2 S QDs was realized to enhance the NIR-II fluorescence intensity. • NIR-II fluorescence imaging of the CNC-based fluorescent probe in Hela cells was completed for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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