Issue 33, 2023

Building in biologically appropriate multifunctionality in aqueous copper indium selenide-based quantum dots

Abstract

Advanced nanoplatforms equipped with different functional moieties for theranostics hold appealing promise for reshaping precision medicine. The reliable construction of an individual nanomaterial with intrinsic near-infrared (NIR) photofunction and magnetic domains is much desired but largely unexplored in a direct aqueous synthesis system. Herein, we develop an aqueous phase synthetic strategy for Mn2+ doping of ZnS shell grown on Zn–Cu–In–Se core quantum dots (ZCISe@ZnS:Mn QDs), providing the optimal NIR fluorescence quantum efficiency of up to 18.9% and meanwhile efficiently introducing paramagnetic domains. The relaxometric properties of the water-soluble Mn-doped QDs make them desirable for both the longitudinal and transverse (T1 and T2) magnetic resonance (MR) contrast enhancement due to the shell lattice-doped Mn2+ ions with slow tumbling rates and favoured spin-proton dipolar interactions with surrounding water molecules. Surprisingly, the incorporation of Mn2+ ions into the shell is found to significantly enhance the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by combining both the chemodynamic and photodynamic processes upon NIR light irradiation, showing great potential for efficient photo-assisted ablation of cancer cells. Furthermore, a broad-spectrum excitation range beneficial for bright NIR fluorescence imaging of breast cancer has been proven and offers high flexibility in the choice of incident light sources. Multiparametric MR imaging of the brain has also been successfully demonstrated in vivo.

Graphical abstract: Building in biologically appropriate multifunctionality in aqueous copper indium selenide-based quantum dots

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 May 2023
Accepted
13 Jul 2023
First published
19 Jul 2023

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 13603-13616

Building in biologically appropriate multifunctionality in aqueous copper indium selenide-based quantum dots

X. Yang, Y. Li, P. Zhang, L. Guo, X. Li, Y. Shu, K. Jiang, Y. Hou, L. Jing and M. Jiao, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 13603 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR02385K

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