Biosynthesis of luminescent CdS quantum dots using plant hairy root culture

CdS nanoparticles have a great potential for application in chemical research, bioscience and medicine. The aim of this study was to develop an efficient and environmentally-friendly method of plant-based biosynthesis of CdS quantum dots using hairy root culture of Linaria maroccana L. By incubating Linaria root extract with inorganic cadmium sulfate and sodium sulfide we synthesized stable luminescent CdS nanocrystals with absorption peaks for UV-visible spectrometry at 362 nm, 398 nm and 464 nm, and luminescent peaks at 425, 462, 500 nm. Transmission electron microscopy of produced quantum dots revealed their spherical shape with a size predominantly from 5 to 7 nm. Electron diffraction pattern confirmed the wurtzite crystalline structure of synthesized cadmium sulfide quantum dots. These results describe the first successful attempt of quantum dots synthesis using plant extract.

PACS

81.07.Ta; 81.16.-c; 81.16.Rf.

A CCD-based reader combined with CdS quantum dot-labeled lateral flow strips for ultrasensitive quantitative detection of CagA

Immunochromatographic assays are widely used to detect many analytes. CagA is proved to be associated closely with initiation of gastric carcinoma. Here, we reported that a charge-coupled device (CCD)-based test strip reader combined with CdS quantum dot-labeled lateral flow strips for quantitative detection of CagA was developed, which used 365-nm ultraviolet LED as the excitation light source, and captured the test strip images through an acquisition module. Then, the captured image was transferred to the computer and was processed by a software system. A revised weighted threshold histogram equalization (WTHE) image processing algorithm was applied to analyze the result. CdS quantum dot-labeled lateral flow strips for detection of CagA were prepared. One hundred sera samples from clinical patients with gastric cancer and healthy people were prepared for detection, which demonstrated that the device could realize rapid, stable, and point-of-care detection, with a sensitivity of 20 pg/mL.

Nanotwinning and structural phase transition in CdS quantum dots

Nanotwin structures are observed in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies of cubic phase CdS quantum dots in powder form by chemical co-precipitation method. The deposition of thin films of nanocrystalline CdS is carried out on silicon, glass, and TEM grids keeping the substrates at room temperature (RT) and 200°C by pulsed laser ablation. These films are then subjected to thermal annealing at different temperatures. Glancing angle X-ray diffraction results confirm structural phase transitions after thermal annealing of films deposited at RT and 200°C. The variation of average particle size and ratio of intensities in Raman peaks I2LO/I1LO with annealing temperature are studied. It is found that electron-phonon interaction is a function of temperature and particle size and is independent of the structure. Besides Raman modes LO, 2LO and 3LO of CdS at approximately 302, 603, and 903 cm-1 respectively, two extra Raman modes at approximately 390 and 690 cm-1 are studied for the first time. The green and orange emissions observed in photoluminescence are correlated with phase transition.