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Size-controlled sensitivity and selectivity for the fluorometric detection of Ag+ by homocysteine capped CdTe quantum dots

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Abstract

We have synthesized water dispersible CdTe quantum dots (QDs) in different sizes and with various capping reagents, and have studied the effects of their size on the sensitivity and selectivity in the fluorometric determination of metal ions, particularly of silver(I). It is found that an increase in the particle size of homocysteine-capped CdTe QDs from 1.7 nm to 3.3 nm and to 3.7 nm enhances both the sensitivity and selectivity of the determination of Ag(I) to give an ultimate limit of detection as low as 8.3 nM. This effect can partially be explained by the better passivation of surface traps on smaller sized QDs via adsorption of Ag(I), thereby decreasing the apparent detection efficiency. In addition, the presence of CdS in the CdTe QDs is likely to play a role. The study demonstrates that an improvement in sensing performance is accomplished by using QDs of fine-tuned particle sizes. Such effects are likely also to occur with other QD-based optical probes.

Improvement of sensing performance by the use of quantum dots based fluorescent probes can be achieved through tuning their particle sizes and should be considered as an important factor in developing relevant probes.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21277149), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. LR13B050001) and the Starting Research Fund of “Team Talent” from NIMTE (No. Y20402RA03) for supporting this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education of China), School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Hangzhou Jiao, Zhenhua Liang & Guihua Peng

  2. Division of Functional Materials and Nano Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering (NIMTE), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, People’s Republic of China

    Hangzhou Jiao, Ling Zhang & Hengwei Lin

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  1. Hangzhou Jiao
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  2. Ling Zhang
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  3. Zhenhua Liang
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  4. Guihua Peng
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  5. Hengwei Lin
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Correspondence to Ling Zhang or Hengwei Lin.

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Jiao, H., Zhang, L., Liang, Z. et al. Size-controlled sensitivity and selectivity for the fluorometric detection of Ag+ by homocysteine capped CdTe quantum dots. Microchim Acta 181, 1393–1399 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-014-1276-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-014-1276-8

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