A general strategy is described which allows for transferring hydrophobically capped nanocrystals from organic to aqueous solution by wrapping an amphiphilic polymer around the particles. In particular, high quality CoPt 3 , Au, CdSe/ZnS, and Fe 2 O 3 nanocrystals have been water-solubilized in this way. Analysis with transmission electron microscopy, gel electrophoresis, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy demonstrates that monodispersity of the particles is conserved upon phase transfer to aqueous solution.

Silver nanoparticles coated with a uniform, thin shell of titanium dioxide are synthesized via a remarkably simple one-pot route, where the reduction of Ag + to Ag 0 and the controlled polymerization of TiO2 on the surface of silver crystallites take place simultaneously. The prepared dispersions of coated nanoparticles display a surface plasmon band, which is significantly red-shifted with respect to that of bare Ag. Highquality ultrathin films of the core-shell clusters are prepared via layer-by-layer assembly. The nanoparticles are arranged in closely packed layers interlaced with polyelectrolyte producing a stratified core-shell hybrid material with unique structure and catalytic and electron-transport properties.

Three-dimensional colloidal crystals have been grown by electrophoretic deposition on ITO glass supports from aqueous-ethanol colloidal solutions of monodisperse submicrometer-sized negatively charged polystyrene latex spheres. The technique offers the possibility to produce uniform single-crystal colloidal multilayers on the time scale of minutes, which is a drastic acceleration in comparison with the gravity sedimentation technique that needs weeks or even months. SEM and AFM images of colloidal crystals reveal that close-packed 3D fcc ordering of the latex spheres extends over large areas. Electrophoretically deposited colloidal crystals show a pronounced photonic stopband in the visible spectral range in the normal incidence transmission spectra with a position depending on the size of latex spheres. The electrophoretic deposition has also been used for the impregnation of 3D colloidal crystals with luminescent CdTe nanocrystals. The luminescence spectrum of CdTe nanocrystals shows a dip at the wavelengths corresponding to the spectral position of the photonic stopband of the colloidal crystal.

We report on efficient resonant energy transfer in bilayers of water-soluble CdTe quantum dots. The bilayers of CdTe nanocrystals of two different sizes capped by short-chain thiols were formed by layer-by-layer assembly. Temporally and spectrally resolved fluorescence spectroscopy reveals spectral diffusion of the fluorescence signal for quantum dots within one layer as well as rapid (254 ps) energy transfer from layers of small dots to layers of larger dots, which is fast for nanocrystal pairs. Subspecies within the inhomogeneous distribution of donor nanocrystals even show energy transfer rates of (134 ps)−1 due to a large spectral overlap with acceptor nanocrystals.

Layer-by-layer sequential adsorption (LBL) has been applied to the preparation of composite multilayer thin films of thiol-capped HgTe nanocrystals with strong IR luminescence. The films can be used as active coatings for novel optical sources for telecommunications.

Nanostructured thin films fabricated from semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) are of great interest for biomedical applications, but NP materials based on heavy metals can be cytotoxic. In this work, the preparation of semiconductor NPs followed the protocol of layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly, which alleviates this problem. Collagen/poly(acrylic acid) bilayers were added to CdTe/polycation LBL films to produce porous collagen bilayers. Such stratified multilayer systems showed successful cell attachment and survival while native NP films were strongly cytotoxic.

Titania nanoshells with an external diameter of 10–30 nm and a wall thickness of 3–5 nm were prepared by dissolving the silver cores of Ag@TiO2 nanoparticles in a concentrated solution of ammonium hydroxide. The nanoshells were assembled layer‐by‐layer (LBL), with negatively charged poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) to produce coatings with a network of voids and channels in the interior of the film. The diameter of the channels in the titania shells was comparable to the thickness of the electrical double layer in porous matter (0.3–30 nm). The prepared nanoparticulate films demonstrated strong ion‐sieving properties due to the exclusion of some ions from the diffuse region of the electrical double layer. The permeation of ions could be tuned effectively by the pH and ionic strength of a solution between “open” and “closed” states. The ion‐separation effect was utilized for the selective determination of one of the most important neurotransmitters, dopamine, on a background of ascorbic acid. Under physiological conditions, the negative charge on the surface of TiO2 facilitated the permeation of positively charged dopamine through the LBL film to the electrode, preventing the access of the negatively charged ascorbic acid. The deposition of the nanoshell/polyelectrolyte film resulted in a significant improvement to the selectivity of dopamine determination. The prepared nanoshell films were also found to be compatible with nervous tissue secreting dopamine. Although the obtained data demonstrated the potential of TiO2 LBL films for implantable biomedical devices for nerve tissue monitoring, the problem of electrode poisoning by the by‐products of dopamine reduction has yet to be resolved.

Highly sensitive dual‐mode labeled detection of biotin in well‐characterized porous silicon (PSi) films using colloidal quantum dots (QDs) as signal amplifiers are demonstrated. Optimization of the PSi platform for targeted QD infiltration and immobilization is carried out by characterizing and tuning the porosity, film depth, and pore size. Binding events of target QD‐biotin conjugates with streptavidin probes immobilized on the pore walls are monitored by reflective interferometric spectroscopy and fluorescence measurements. QD labeling of the target biotin molecules enables detection based on a distinct fluorescent signal as well as a greater than 5‐fold enhancement in the measured spectral reflectance fringe shift and a nearly three order of magnitude improvement in the detection limit for only 6% surface area coverage of QDs inside the porous matrix. Utilizing the QD signal amplifiers, an exceptional biotin detection limit of ≈6 fg mm−2 is demonstrated with sub‐fg mm−2 detection limits achievable.