Published February 18, 2020 | Version v1
Preprint Open

10-Fold Quantum Yield Improvement of Ag2S Nanoparticles by Fine Compositional Tuning

Creators

Description

Ag2S semiconductor nanoparticles are near-infrared luminescent probes with outstanding properties (good biocompatibility, optimum spectral operation range, and easy biofunctionalization) that make them ideal probes for in vivo imaging. Ag2S nanoparticles have, indeed, made possible amazing challenges including in vivo brain imaging and advanced diagnosis of cardiovascular system. Despite the continuous redesign of synthesis routes, the emission quantum yield (QY) of Ag2S nanoparticles is typically below 0.2%. This leads to a low luminescent brightness that avoids their translation into the clinics. In this work, an innovative synthetic methodology that permits a 10-fold increment in the absolute quantum yield from 0.2% up to 2.3% is presented. Such an increment in the QY is accompanied by an enlargement of photoluminescence (PL) lifetimes from 184 ns to 1200 ns. The optimized synthetic route here presented here is based on a fine control over both the Ag core and the Ag/S ratio within the nanoparticles. Such control reduces the density of structural defects and decreases non-radiative pathways. In addition, we demonstrate that the superior performance of the Ag2S nanoparticles allows for high contrast in vivo bioimaging. 
 
 

Files

Ortega_ACSAppMaterInter_Zenodo.pdf

Files (884.9 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:e14d170385d95611c65c96cb772cbf7b
884.9 kB Preview Download