Hydrothermal synthesis of bright and stable AgInS2 quantum dots with tunable visible emission

Hu, Xiaobo; Chen, Ting; Xu, Yanqiao; Wang, Minghui; Jiang, Weihui; Jiang, Wan

doi:10.1016/j.jlumin.2018.04.025

Cited by 40 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“… 19 , 70 However, at extended reaction times, oxidation of the ligands, agglomeration of the nanoparticles, and the formation of defects may decrease the luminescence intensity. 71 Figure S1 shows the time-dependent changes in the emission and absorbance profile of the AIS-2MPA QDs. Nearly no change in the absorption onset was observed with the increase of growth time, suggesting no dramatic change in the size.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS₂ Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

et al. 2022

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Silver–indium–sulfide quantum dots (AIS QDs) have potential applications in many areas, including biomedicine. Their lack of regulated heavy metals, unlike many commercialized QDs, stands out as an advantage, but the necessity for alloyed or core–shell structures and related costly and sophisticated processes for the production of stable and high quantum yield aqueous AIS QDs are the current challenges. The present study demonstrates the one-step aqueous synthesis of simple AgInS 2 QD compositions utilizing for the first time either a polyethyleneimine/2-mercaptopropionic acid (AIS-PEI/2MPA) mixture or only 2-mercaptopropionic acid (AIS-2MPA) as the stabilizing molecules, providing a AgInS 2 portfolio consisting of cationic and anionic AIS QDs, respectively, and tuneable emission. Small AIS QDs with long-term stability and high quantum yields (19–23%) were achieved at a molar ratio of Ag/In/S 1/10/10 in water without any dopant or a semiconductor shell. The theranostic potential of these cationic and anionic AIS QDs was also evaluated in vitro. Non-toxic doses were determined, and fluorescence imaging potential was demonstrated. More importantly, these QDs were electrostatically loaded with zwitterionic 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) as a prodrug to enhance the tumor availability of ALA and to improve ALA-induced porphyrin photodynamic therapy (PDT). This is the first study investigating the influence of nanoparticle charge on ALA binding, release, and therapeutic efficacy. Surface charge was found to be more critical in cellular internalization and dark toxicity rather than drug loading and release. Both QDs provided enhanced ALA release at acidic pH but protected the prodrug at physiological pH, which is critical for tumor delivery of ALA, which suffers from low bioavailability. The PDT efficacy of the ALA-loaded AIS QDs was tested in 2D monolayers and 3D constructs of HT29 and SW480 human colon adenocarcinoma cancer cell lines. The incorporation of ALA delivery by the AIS QDs, which on their own do not cause phototoxicity, elicited significant cell death due to enhanced light-induced ROS generation and apoptotic/necrotic cell death, reducing the IC50 for ALA dramatically to about 0.1 and 0.01 mM in anionic and cationic AIS QDs, respectively. Combined with simple synthetic methods, the strong intracellular photoluminescence of AIS QDs, good biocompatibility of especially the anionic AIS QDs, and the ability to act as drug carriers for effective PDT signify that the AIS QDs, in particular AIS-2MPA, are highly promising theranostic QDs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS₂ Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

et al. 2022

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“…These syntheses can be conducted in water at reflux, under hydrothermal conditions, or under microwave irradiation. Glutathione (GSH) and GSH associated with cysteamine or sodium citrate are the most commonly used ligands for the preparation of high-quality dots. − A few reports describe also the use of thioglycolic acid (TGA) or TGA combined with poly(acrylic acid), , 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA), mercaptosuccinic acid associated with sodium citrate, cysteine, , N -acetylcysteine, poly(ethylenimine), , gelatin, carboxymethylcellulose, and chitosan as capping agents. A cation exchange process using Ag 2 S QDs as precursors of AIS and AIZS QDs has also been reported .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aqueous Synthesis for Highly Emissive 3-Mercaptopropionic Acid-Capped AIZS Quantum Dots

et al. 2020

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Highly fluorescent and color tunable AgInS 2 (AIS) and (AgInS 2 )x(ZnS) 1-x (AIZS) quantum dots (QDs) were prepared via a facile aqueous-phase synthesis using AgNO 3 , In(NO 3 ) 3 , Zn(OAc) 2 and Na 2 S as precursors and 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA) as ligand. Produced AIZS QDs exhibit a small diameter (ca. 2.1 nm) and a cubic structure. Ag-3-MPA and In-3-MPA complexes formed during the preparation of AIS cores were found to play a key role on the fate of the reaction and an atypical blue-shift of the PL emission was observed with the increase of the Ag/In ratio. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY) of AIS QDs is modest but increased markedly after the alloying and shelling with ZnS (up to 65%). Size and composition-selective precipitations allowed to separate up to 13 fractions of AIZS QDs with exceptionally high PL QYs (up to 78%), which is the highest value reported to date for AIZS QDs prepared in aqueous phase. These high PL QYs combined to their good colloidal stability and photostability make AIZS QDs of high potential as cadmium-free fluorescent probes for various applications like bio-imaging or sensing.

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“…Although recent progress has promoted the development of CQDs, most of these approaches usually suffer from the high cost of raw materials, complex procedures, harsh synthetic conditions or reliance on energy-consuming devices, which seriously limit the availability of large-scale production of the CQDs for practical applications. Among the proposed synthetic strategies for CQD fabrication, the hydrothermal method has been widely adopted as an effective bottom-up synthesis route for the preparation of CQDs from numerous molecules and has several distinct advantages, including simple preparation, low-cost equipment and economical consumption [22,23,24,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Preparation of Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots from Cyanobacteria for Biological Imaging

et al. 2019

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Biomass-based carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have become a significant carbon materials by their virtues of being cost-effective, easy to fabricate and low in environmental impact. However, there are few reports regarding using cyanobacteria as a carbon source for the synthesis of fluorescent CQDs. In this study, the low-cost biomass of cyanobacteria was used as the sole carbon source to synthesize water-soluble CQDs by a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized CQDs were mono-dispersed with an average diameter of 2.48 nm and exhibited excitation-dependent emission performance with a quantum yield of 9.24%. Furthermore, the cyanobacteria-derived CQDs had almost no photobleaching under long-time UV irradiation, and exhibited high photostability in the solutions with a wide range of pH and salinity. Since no chemical reagent was involved in the synthesis of CQDs, the as-prepared CQDs were confirmed to have low cytotoxicity for PC12 cells even at a high concentration. Additionally, the CQDs could be efficiently taken up by cells to illuminate the whole cell and create a clear distinction between cytoplasm and nucleus. The combined advantages of green synthesis, cost-effectiveness and low cytotoxicity make synthesized CQDs a significant carbon source and broaden the application of cyanobacteria and provide an economical route to fabricate CQDs on a large scale.

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Hydrothermal synthesis of bright and stable AgInS2 quantum dots with tunable visible emission

Cited by 40 publications

References 43 publications

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS₂ Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS₂ Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

Aqueous Synthesis for Highly Emissive 3-Mercaptopropionic Acid-Capped AIZS Quantum Dots

Green Preparation of Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots from Cyanobacteria for Biological Imaging

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Hydrothermal synthesis of bright and stable AgInS2 quantum dots with tunable visible emission

Cited by 40 publications

References 43 publications

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

Aqueous Synthesis for Highly Emissive 3-Mercaptopropionic Acid-Capped AIZS Quantum Dots

Green Preparation of Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots from Cyanobacteria for Biological Imaging

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One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS₂ Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy

One-Step Aqueous Synthesis of Anionic and Cationic AgInS₂ Quantum Dots and Their Utility in Improving the Efficacy of ALA-Based Photodynamic Therapy