Issue 4, 2007

CdSe nanocrystal based chem-/bio- sensors

Abstract

Semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have found application in biology mostly as optical imaging agents where the photophysical properties of the NCs are insensitive to species in their environment. This tutorial review examines the application of CdSe NCs as optical sensing agents where the NC's photophysical properties are sensitive to species in their environment. For this case, the NC is modified at the surface with a conjugate, which interacts with an external agent by physical (i.e. recognition) or chemical means. Signal transduction in these chem-bio (CB) sensitive NCs is derived primarily from energy transfer between the NC and the external agent, which functions as the energy transfer acceptor or donor. Signaling may be obtained by directly detecting luminescence from the NC and/or the conjugate. New developments for the use of NCs as gain materials in micro-lasing cavities (distributed feedback gratings and spherical resonators) opens the way to designing CB-sensitive NCs for high-gain sensing applications.

Graphical abstract: CdSe nanocrystal based chem-/bio- sensors

Article information

Article type
Tutorial Review
Submitted
11 sep 2006
First published
27 feb 2007

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2007,36, 579-591

CdSe nanocrystal based chem-/bio- sensors

R. C. Somers, M. G. Bawendi and D. G. Nocera, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2007, 36, 579 DOI: 10.1039/B517613C

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.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements