Wide emission-tunable CdTeSe/ZnSe/ZnS core–shell quantum dots and their conjugation with E. coli O-157

•QDs with variety morphology were obtained via an injection controlled process.•3-D PL spectra of core–shell QDs show different excitation wavelength dependence.•The PL intensity of QDs with ZnSe transition layer increases dramatically.•Core–shell QDs were processed into aqueous phase and conjugated with E. coli O-157.

Wide emission-tunable and different morphological alloyed CdTeSe quantum dots (QDs), CdTeSe/ZnS and CdTeSe/ZnSe/ZnS core–shell QDs were successfully synthesized via an injection controlled process. The effect of injection procedure and reaction temperature were systematically discussed and the growth mechanism was proposed. Most efficient PL wavelength was correlated with reaction time and temperature. The 3-D PL spectra of spherical bare CdTeSe and core–shell QDs with different passivation showed different excitation wavelength dependency. The PL intensity of CdTeSe/ZnSe/ZnS core–shell QDs increased greatly in comparison with that of CdTeSe and CdTeSe/ZnSe QDs. ZnSe transition layer played an important role in improving the PL intensity by providing a smoothened interface and gradient band offsets. The core–shell QDs were transferred into aqueous phase and successfully conjugated with Escherichia coli O-157. The proposed phase-transfer and bio-labeling strategy may be applicable to various QDs with different compositions.

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