DNA-mediated phase transfer of DNA-functionalized quantum dots using reverse micelles

Abstract

We report the selective phase transfer of DNA-functionalized CdTe quantum dots (DNA-QDs) from an aqueous phase to an organic phase using reverse micelles and a DNA surfactant. The DNA surfactant recognized DNA tethered to QDs and transferred the DNA-QDs to an organic phase via the DNA hybridization. Extraction efficiency strongly depended on the nucleotide complementarity, the number of DNA oligonucleotides tethered to a QD and the DNA-QDs size.