Water soluble cadmium selenide quantum dots for ultrasensitive detection of organic, inorganic and elemental mercury in biological fluids and live cells.

ABSTRACT: Mercury exists in organic, inorganic, and elemental forms; all of them are highly toxic. A sensor which could detect all forms of mercury below the permissible level in environmental and biological samples would be advantageous. A facile method to synthesize N-acetyl cysteine capped cadmium selenide quantum dots (CdSe QDs) with an emission at 554 nm was reported. CdSe QDs showed high sensitivity and selectivity toward Hg in aqueous media as well as biological fluids like simulated cerebrospinal fluid, saliva, and urine, and also in natural fluids like juices of tomato, sugarcane, and lime. The sensing mechanism is attributed to the interactions between Hg and CdSe QDs inducing fluorescence quenching. The limit of detection is 1.62, 0.75, and 1.27 ppb for organic, inorganic and eleme

SUBMITTER: Bala Subramaniyan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9066711 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature