The double-effect mechanism between Fe3O4 nanoparticles and MSA-capped CdTe QDs

Water-soluble mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA)-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) of two sizes and superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been synthesized and used to investigate the effect of the mechanism of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on the fluorescence intensity of QDs. In the presence of a low concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, the CdTe QDs with smaller particle size exhibit fluorescence quenching while fluorescence enhancement of CdTe QDs with larger particle size was observed, and the fluorescence intensity changes with the excitation wavelength and the concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The mechanism study shows that there is a double-effect between the Fe3O4 and CdTe QDs: one is the fluorescence quenching effect due to Fe3O4 strong absorption of excitation and emission light, the other is the fluorescence enhancement effect resulting from a localized electromagnetic field caused by the absorption of exciting light. The fluorescence of CdTe QDs with lower concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was determined via the synergy of the double-effect. To our best knowledge, this is the first systematic study on the interaction between Fe3O4 nanoparticles and CdTe QDs, which finds the fluorescence enhancement effect in the presence of low concentration of Fe3O4.

► Interaction of Fe3O4 nanoparticles of CdTe QDs. ► Fluorescence intensity of different size QDs shows quenching or enhancement. ► Double-effect mechanism of fluorescence enhancement and fluorescence quenching.