Surface-Engineered Cationic Nanocrystals Stable in Biological Buffers and High Ionic Strength Solutions.

ABSTRACT: Progress in colloidal synthesis in the last two decades has enabled high-quality semiconductor, plasmonic, and magnetic nanocrystals (NCs). As synthesized, these NCs are usually capped with long-chain apolar ligands. Postsynthetic surface functionalization is required for rendering such NCs colloidally stable in polar media such as water. However, unlike small anionic molecules and polymeric coatings, producing positively charged stable NCs, especially at high ionic strengths, has remained challenging. Here, we present a general approach to achieve aqueously stable cationic NCs using a set of small (<2.5 nm long) positively charged ligands. The applicability of this method is demonstrated for a variety of materials including semiconductor CdSe/CdS core/shell NCs, magnetic Fe@Fe₃

SUBMITTER: Dragoman RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5871342 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature