Efficient transformation of water-soluble quantum dot to highly luminescent nanocomposite

Abstract

We report the efficient transformation of water-soluble amine-terminated CdSe/CdS core/shell Quantum Dots (QDs), QD-AET (AET=aminoethanethiol), to single QD containing and highly luminescent composite material QD-AET-PEF5000. The transformation was achieved by covalent conjugation of QD-AET to carboxy activated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG5000, MW=5000) under the control of inter-particle attraction.