Chiral ZnO nanoparticles for detection of dopamine

Dopamine (DA) is an important catecholamine neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, and is involved in many behavioral responses and brain functions, and thus the detection of DA is much important. Chiral nanoparticles (NPs) have aroused much attention and showed many potential applications. In this work, Chiral ZnO NPs was prepared, and the nanoparticles can disperse well without aggregation. The Circular dichroism (CD) test showed strong chiroptical signals, demonstrating it is an effect method to prepare Chiral ZnO with cysteine as ligand. The photoluminescent properties of Chiral ZnO was investigated and showed quenching effect to dopamine, which make it possible to be used as probes to detect dopamine in biological samples with high selectivity and sensitivity.