Photoluminescent quantum dot-cucurbituril nanocomposites

摘要

The preparation of entrapped CdSe-ZnS fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) in cucurbituril (CB) polymer capsules is reported. Colloidal photoluminescent (PL) quantum dots (QDs) such as core-shell CdSe-ZnS are receiving increasing attention due to their excellent optical properties including broad absorption and narrow emission, size-tunable bandgap and excellent photostability. As a consequence, they appeared to be of practical interest for biological imaging and are promising candidates for a variety of other applications. Yet, one important drawback for bioimaging lies in the surface ligands of the QDs that are highly accessible to a variety of biological species that lead to their degradation thus decreasing their efficacy and increasing their cytotoxicity.