Abstract
CuInS2 (CIS) quantum dots (QDs) are known to be ideal fluorophores based on their low toxicity and tunable emission. However, due to low quantum yield (QY) and photostability, the surface is usually passivated by a higher bandgap shell (e.g. ZnS). This always resulted in a blue-shifted emission position which is not usually favourable for biological imaging. To address this problem, we herein report the passivation of green synthesized near infra-red emitting glutathione (GSH) capped CuInS2 QDs using different concentration of sodium alginate (SA) at different temperatures. The as-synthesized QDs are small (~ 3.2 nm), highly crystalline and emitted in the near infra-red region. The optical results showed a 36% increase in photostability and a 2-fold increase in quantum yield at ratio 1:8 (SA: CIS) which is suitable for prolonged biological imaging applications. Transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses showed that the materials are highly crystalline without any change in shape and size after passivation with the biopolymer.
Graphical Abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Not applicable.
References
Tsolekile N, Parani S, Matoetoe MC, et al (2017) Evolution of ternary I–III–VI QDs: synthesis, characterization and application. Nano-Structures and Nano-Objects
Jiang T, Song J, Wang H, Ye X, Wang H, Zhang W, Yang M, Xia R, Zhu L, Xu X (2015) Aqueous synthesis of color tunable cu doped Zn-in-S/ZnS nanoparticles in the whole visible region for cellular imaging. J Mater Chem B 3:2402–2410. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tb01957a
Chen Y, Li S, Huang L, Pan D (2013) Green and facile synthesis of water-soluble cu-in-S/ZnS core/shell quantum dots. Inorg Chem 52:7819–7821. https://doi.org/10.1021/ic400083w
Liu S, Zhang H, Qiao Y, Su X (2012) One-pot synthesis of ternary CuInS2 quantum dots with near-infrared fluorescence in aqueous solution. RSC Adv 2:819–825. https://doi.org/10.1039/c1ra00802a
Jia L, Wang Y, Nie Q, et al (2017) Aqueous-synthesis of CuInS2 core and CuInS2/ZnS core / shell quantum dots and their optical properties. 200:27–30
Chuang PH, Lin CC, Liu RS (2014) Emission-tunable CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots: structure, optical properties, and application in white light-emitting diodes with high color rendering index. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 6:15379–15387. https://doi.org/10.1021/am503889z
Oluwafemi OS, May BMM, Parani S, Rajendran JV (2019) Cell viability assessments of green synthesized water-soluble AgInS2/ZnS core/shell quantum dots against different cancer cell lines. J Mater Res 34:4037–4044. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2019.362
Kim D, Joo SY, Lee CG, Kim BS, Kim WB (2019) Poly(methylmethacrylate) coating on quantum dot surfaces via photo-chemical reaction for defect passivation. J Photochem Photobiol A Chem 376:206–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2019.02.032
Luo X, Liu P, Truong NTN, Farva U, Park C (2011) Photoluminescence blue-shift of CdSe nanoparticles caused by exchange of surface capping layer. J Phys Chem C 115:20817–20823. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp200701x
Parani S, Oluwafemi SO (2020) Selective and sensitive fluorescent nanoprobe based on AgInS2-ZnS quantum dots for the rapid detection of Cr (III) ions in the midst of interfering ions. Nanotechnology. 31:395501. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ab9c58
Farrag M (2016) Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity of size selected platinum nanoclusters. J Photochem Photobiol A Chem 318:42–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2015.11.023
Chen T, Hu XB, Xu YQ et al (2019) Hydrothermal synthesis and the study of fluorescence properties of quaternary Ag-in-Zn-S quantum dots. Guangzi Xuebao/Acta Photonica Sin 48:1016001. https://doi.org/10.3788/gzxb20194810.1016001
Derkach SR, Voron’ko NG, Sokolan NI, Kolotova DS, Kuchina YA (2020) Interactions between gelatin and sodium alginate: UV and FTIR studies. J Dispers Sci Technol 41:690–698. https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2019.1611437
Carrillo-Carrión C, Cárdenas S, Simonet BM, Valcárcel M (2009) Quantum dots luminescence enhancement due to illumination with UV/Vis light. Chem Commun:5214–5226
Wada C, Iso Y, Isobe T, Sasaki H (2017) Preparation and photoluminescence properties of yellow-emitting CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots embedded in TMAS-derived silica. RSC Adv 7:7936–7943. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ra00081b
Moon H, Lee C, Lee W, Kim J, Chae H (2019) Stability of quantum dots, quantum dot films, and quantum dot light-emitting diodes for display applications. Adv Mater 31:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201804294
Funding
The authors would like to thank National Research Foundation (N.R.F), South Africa under Competitive Program for Rated Researchers (CPRR), grant no 106060 and University of Johannesburg (URC) and Faculty of Science (FRC) for financial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All the authors contributed equally.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest
We wish to confirm that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this publication.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 108 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jose Varghese, R., Parani, S., Adeyemi, O.O. et al. Green Synthesis of Sodium Alginate Capped -CuInS2 Quantum Dots with Improved Fluorescence Properties. J Fluoresc 30, 1331–1335 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02604-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02604-0