Semiconductor Quantum Dots and Energy Transfer for Optical Sensing and Bioanalysis: Applications

Abstract

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are very promising materials for optical sensing and bioanalysis. This chapter builds on Chap. 10, which reviewed the optical properties of QDs and their benefits for energy transfer, by illustrating the utility of QDs and energy transfer for optical sensing and bioanalysis. Representative examples of different in vitro assays and cellular probes from the literature are described. Energy transfer mechanisms including Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), bioluminescence and chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET and CRET), nanosurface energy transfer (NSET), and charge transfer can be used for optical signal generation in homogeneous assays, single-particle assays, and heterogeneous assays targeting bioanalytes as diverse as nucleic acids, proteins, small molecules, ions, and the activity of enzymes such as proteases, kinases, and nucleases. The importance and versatility of QDs in optical sensing and bioanalysis has been growing steadily since their introduction and will continue to grow in the near future as QD-based assays are optimized and applied to new problems, and new capabilities are developed.

Detection of rabies virus via exciton energy transfer between CdTe quantum dots and Au nanoparticles

“…First, the distance between the energy donor and the energy receptor is 10 ± 2 nm. Second, there should be a spectral overlap between the emission spectrum of the energy donor and the absorption spectrum of the energy receptor ( 23 ).…”