Ligand exchange on the surface of cadmium telluride quantum dots with fluorosurfactant-capped gold nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization and toxicity evaluation

• The complete ligand transformation of CdTe QDs from thiolglycolic acid to citrate.
• Negligible differences are observed between original QDs and new-born QDs.
• The new-born CdTe QDs can induce minimal cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells.

CdTe quantum dots (QDs) can provide high-intensity and photostable luminescent signals when they are used as labeling materials for sensing trace amounts of bioanalytes. However, a major concern is whether the capping ligands of CdTe QDs cause toxic effects in living systems. In the current study, we address this problem through the complete ligand transformation of CdTe QDs from toxic thiolglycolic acid (TGA) to green citrate, which is attributed to the CdS bond breaking and the AuS bond formation. The highly efficient depletion of S atom from the surface of the CdTe QDs occurs after the addition of fluorosurfactant (FSN)-capped gold nanoparticles into TGA-capped CdTe QDs, accompanying with the rapid aggregation of FSN-capped gold nanoparticles via noncrosslinking mechanism in the presence of high salt. After the ligand transformation, negligible differences are observed on both photoluminescence spectra and luminescent quantum yield. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the original and new-born CdTe QDs is detected by measuring cell viability after the nanoparticle treatment. In comparison with the original TGA-capped QDs, the new-born CdTe QDs can induce minimal cytotoxicity against human hepatocellular liver carcinoma (HepG2) cells even at high dosages. Our study indicates that the extremely simple method herein opens up novel pathways for the synthesis of green CdTe QDs, and the as-prepared citrate-capped CdTe QDs might have great potential for biological labeling and imaging applications.

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