One-step synthesis of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) and their application for cell imaging

Jinzhu Wu; Jun Dai; Yanbin Shao; Yanchun Sun

doi:10.1039/C5RA13119G

One-step synthesis of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) and their application for cell imaging†

Jinzhu Wu,*^a Jun Dai,^a Yanbin Shao^b and Yanchun Sun^c

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, 92 West Dazhi Street, Nan Gang District, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China
E-mail: wujinzhu@hit.edu.cn

^b The Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, 92 West Dazhi Street, Nan Gang District, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China

^c Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Heilongjiang River Fishery Research Institute, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China

Abstract

Novel fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal procedure using (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTES) as a silicon source and sodium ascorbate (SA) as a reducing agent. This synthetic strategy is straightforward, efficacious and low-cost. The as-synthesized Si-QDs featured narrow size distribution, intense purple-blue fluorescence with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY) of 21%, complete water solubility, and favorable biocompatibility. Moreover, the resultant Si-QDs present robust stability in different circumstances, such as for long-term storage in air, in a wide pH range of 2–12 and under continuous UV irradiation, and they also do not respond to some metal ions. Their superior stability and safety render Si-QDs applicable as fluorescent probes in biomedical applications. The use of Si-QDs as an optical probe is illustrated by fluorescent imaging of IE8 cells.

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA13119G
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 09 Jul 2015
Accepted: 15 Sep 2015
First published: 25 Sep 2015

Download Citation

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 83581-83587

Permissions

Request permissions

One-step synthesis of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) and their application for cell imaging

J. Wu, J. Dai, Y. Shao and Y. Sun, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 83581 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA13119G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

RSC Advances

One-step synthesis of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) and their application for cell imaging†

Abstract

Supplementary files

Article information

Download Citation

Permissions

One-step synthesis of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) and their application for cell imaging

Social activity

Search articles by author

Spotlight

Advertisements