Electrochemistry of thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots and its sensing application

The electrochemistry of mercaptopropionic acid capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) was studied by differential pulse voltammetry, three processes were obtained at 0.36 (A1), 0.68 (A2) and 0.84 V (A3), respectively. A1 process could be selectively suppressed by magnesium ion, an electrochemical sensor for magnesium ion was developed with a linear response from 4 × 10−5 to 1 × 10−2 mol/L and good reproducibility. This electrochemical sensing application of QDs may provide a new strategy for QDs-based detection.