Aqueous synthesis of high bright and tunable near-infrared AgInSe2–ZnSe quantum dots for bioimaging

Efficient synthetic methods for near-infrared quantum dots with good biophysical properties as bioimaging agents are urgently required. In this work, a simple and fast synthesis of highly luminescent, near-infrared AgInSe2–ZnSe quantum dots (QDs) with tunable emissions in aqueous media is reported. This method avoids high temperature and pressure and organic solvents to directly generate water-dispersible AgInSe2–ZnSe QDs. The photoluminescence emission peak of the AgInSe2–ZnSe QDs ranged from 625 to 940 nm, with quantum yields up to 31%. The AgInSe2–ZnSe QDs with high quantum yield, near-infrared and low cytotoxic could be used as good cell labels, showing great potential applications in bio-imaging.

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